George's Marvellous Medicine

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Clearly, alliteration is important in this book. It's all over the place - and just look at the title! Other instances of the literary device have also been destroyed: "horny hand" (in fact, it's "huge horny hand" on p.80) is apparently now "wrinkly hand" - which is not at all the same thing. And "the skinny old hag's head" (p.84) is just "her skinny old head." "Frisky as a ferret" has twice been changed (pp.60 & 63), first to "lively as a ferret," and the second instead makes reference to "a new lease of life." Ugh. Elsewhere a reference to George's father's "huge head" (p.49) has been removed. All fictional heads must be the same size, or if they are not, we can't possibly mention anything about the distinction. I mean, just imagine what might ensue if we didn't do this. Johnson G, Davies P (2020). "Toxicological analysis of George's marvellous medicine: literature review". BMJ. 371: m4467. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m4467. PMC 7726247. PMID 33303487. And suddenly, George found himself dancing around the steaming pot, chanting strange words that came into his head out of nowhere! Retell the story using expression and thinking about the performance. Watch this Youtube video for some inspiration:

I absolutely loved the book, and when I read it I would burst into laughter. This is the second time that I have read this book, and I still enjoy reading it. Being a medical expert was one of what Dahl called his "dreams of glory": he had enormous respect for doctors and particularly those who pioneered new treatments. He dedicated the book to "doctors everywhere". [1] An audio reading of it was released with Richard E. Grant narrating. In 2003, it was listed at number 134 on the BBC's The Big Read poll. [2] Plot [ edit ] He took a full tube of TOOTHPASTE and squeezed out the whole lot of it in one long worm. ‘Maybe that will brighten up those horrid brown teeth of hers,’ he said. There was an aerosol can of SUPERFOAM SHAVING SOAP belonging to his father. George loved playing with aerosols. He pressed the button and kept his finger on it until there was nothing left. A wonderful mountain of white foam built up in the giant saucepan. With his fingers, he scooped out the contents of ajar of VITAMIN ENRICHED FACE CREAM. In went a small bottle of scarlet NAIL VARNISH. ‘If the toothpaste doesn’t clean her teeth,’ George said, ‘then this will paint them as red as roses.’ Each with a rather nasty smell. I’ll stir them up, I’ll boil them long,A mixture tough, a mixture strong. And then, heigh-ho, and down it goes, A nice big spoonful (hold your nose)Just gulp it down and have no fear. “How do you like it, Granny dear?”Will she go pop? Will she explode? Will she go flying down the road? Will she go poof in a puff of smoke? Start fizzing like a can of Coke? Who knows? Not I. Let’s wait and see.(I’m glad it’s neither you nor me.) Oh Grandma, if you only knew What I have got in store for you!’Dahl was influenced by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with the "Drink Me" episode inspiring a scene in George's Marvellous Medicine where the tyrannical grandmother drinks a potion concocted by George and is blown up to the size of a farmhouse. [4] Safety concerns [ edit ] So give me a bug and a jumping flea,Give me two snails and lizards three, And a slimy squiggler from the sea, And the poisonous sting of a bumblebee, And the juice from the fruit of the ju-jube tree,And the powdered bone of a wombat’s knee. And one hundred other things as well a b Dellatto, Marisa (20 February 2023). "Roald Dahl Books Get New Edits—And Critics Cry Censorship: The Controversy Surrounding 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' And More". Forbes. Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. ISSN 0015-6914. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023 . Retrieved 27 February 2023.

Think about the feelings of each character (George, his mum, his dad, his grandma, the animals) as the story progresses and what they think by the end. Ah, exactly! And that's what this book is all about. Every day, George's grandma has to take a very special medicine. So, George decides to make her a brand new medicine. So, he runs around the farm, where he lives, finding all sorts of weird ingredients.Look at the capacity of different containers… Which size container might George need to make a new medicine? What capacity would the container need to be to make medicine for all of his dad’s farm animals? One day, when George is put in charge of giving Grandma her medicine, he wonders if he can come up with his own remedy to try and help Grandma become less of a grump. And who can blame him? I mean... Quentin Blake's illustrations REALLY show you how disgusting that grandma really is.

Kirka, Danica. "Critics reject changes to Roald Dahl books as censorship". abc NEWS . Retrieved 3 March 2023. BTW, I also note that in their incompetence, the vandals actually left in several references to an "aerosol can" (pp.16 & 18). What child in this day and age has ever seen an aerosol spray can of deodorant? For heaven's sake, think of the children - and the ozone layer! Puffin is an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world’s number-one publisher representing a vibrant community of publishing houses marked by unparalleled success. Through our world of stories, Puffin aims to open up the world to every child. Our mission is to inspire children to feel they can be and do anything, and to create readers for life.Anne Fine's How To Write Really Badly would also suit newly confident readers who like a little humour in their books. She scares George by saying that she likes to eat insects and he wonders briefly if she's a witch. To punish her for her regular abuse, George decides to make a magic medicine to replace her old one. He collects a variety of ingredients from around the family farm including deodorant and shampoo from the bathroom, floor polish from the laundry room, horseradish sauce and gin from the kitchen, animal medicines, engine oil and anti-freeze from the garage, and brown paint to mimic the colour of the original medicine. Well... This lad George, yeah? He's got no choice. Poor George. That horrible crinkly old bag is so horrible to him! PUFFIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (adivision of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL., England puffinbooks.com First published by Jonathan Cape Ltd 1981Published in Puffin Books 1982 This edition published 2007