Books and Art: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I'm not certain I ever read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a child. I have vivid recollections of the movie, man were those oompa loompas weird, but I don't remember actually reading the book. So quite possibly, my recent read-through with Connor was my first ever.

And it was delightful.

Most delightful for me were the vivid descriptions of the Bucket family, the town, the store Charlie purchased the candy bar with the winning ticket, and of course, the factory. While reading it, I kept thinking that this book calls for artwork.

Why? Because last week at Artful Conversations, Connor and I learned about a painting that was inspired by the story Rip Van Winkle. And naturally, as I sat thinking about that painting, I thought about how many other paintings might really come alive for Helen and Connor if they knew the story behind them.

So a project based on Roald Dahl's seemingly timeless book seemed like a perfect project to take on.

Unfortunately, I had to speed through the book this evening to post in time for the my online book club, so Connor hasn't heard the end and Helen hasn't heard any of the book. But I can remedy both of those things in the next few days.

Artwork to follow.

Elaine

This post was inspired by the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Penguin Young Readers Group, in partnership with Dylan’s Candy Bar, the world-famous candy emporium, and First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books for children from low-income families, is launching a year-long international celebration.