I'll Stick with the Cat in the Hat

Up until I read James and the Giant Peach this past summer, I had never read any Roald Dahl books as a kid.  That was pretty surprising to me, because as a kid I read all sorts of books.  I mean I loved Dr. Seuss and all of the Serendipity books.  I read Graeme Base and tons of fantasy books.  But other than seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the original masterpiece, not the creepy remake with Johnny Depp - I didn't really know much about his books aside from knowing he wrote them.

That's the main reason I chose to read James and the Giant Peach - I hadn't yet and that seemed weird.  And I have to admit, I loved it.  I thought the story was sweet and funny and I'm a sucker for cute illustrations.  Because of that I thought Matilda the Broadway show would be just as cute. Not so much.  That got too dark too quick.  But I was pretty sure that was a Broadway thing to make it more appealing.

So, since I'm working on a secret project, I decided to pick up the book instead and read what I was sure was going to be a much happier and less nasty book.  Um, not so much.  I think James and the Giant Peach might be the exception to the rule.  Matilda is just way too dark for kids!  I might be in the minority in this opinion, but I'm super curious why parents let their kids read these books.  What's wrong with happy go lucky stories where everyone is kind?  None of these characters are super nice.  Even Matilda, is sweet but kinda terrible.  I mean, her parents are awful so she has the right to be a little terrible, but really?  And having a teacher throw students, or put them in a box, or force feed them chocolate cake - doesn't that ring out a little too cruel for kids that may already be a little scared of school?

After Matilda is through, my plan is to also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but after the first half of Matilda, I'm a little worried.  So help me god, if it ruins my favorite Gene Wilder movie for me, I'm not going to be a happy camper!