My husband and I listened to this as an audio book during a long driving trip to the American Southwest. I was skeptical, even though I love Roald Dahl, and at first I thought much might be lost in not being able to see the spelling of the BFG’s adorable malapropisms. But the reader was talented and brought the voices of the giants to life. And this book is indeed adorable. Not sickly-treacly adorable, but just plain heartwarming.

I think it was this exchange between Sophie (the protagonist, a young girl) and the BFG (giant) toward the beginning of the book that won me over. Sophie is concerned that she is about to be eaten:

‘Do you like vegetables?’ Sophie asked, hoping to steer the conversation towards a slightly less dangerous kind of food.

‘You is trying to change the subject,’ the Giant said sternly. ‘We is having an interesting babblement about the taste of the human bean. The human bean is not a vegetable.’

‘Oh, but the bean is a vegetable,’ Sophie said.

‘Not the human bean,’ the Giant said. ‘The human bean has two legs and a vegetable has no legs at all.’

When I was child I adored Dahl, but now I realize that his writing is timeless in its endearing quality. Much recommended. Dahl is genius.