Amazon.com: Customer reviews: George's Marvelous Medicine

Top positive review

Marvelous as it says

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2020

I couldn't help bust out laughing at some of the passages in this book. If you are taking this too seriously, then you are a square. It's a kids book.

6 people found this helpful

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sharareh

Not teaching a child of any age good lesson

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2018

I am just surprised why no one talks about the moral of the story? I was nerveouse when I was reading the book to my child as he could learn some bad words, disrespecting grown ups, and giving him the idea of making dangerous potions and feeding it to anyone who he dislike !!! Seriously didn’t George do that ? And how come at the end of the story even a daughter is please with Her mother’s disappearance....

21 people found this helpful

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sharareh

Not teaching a child of any age good lesson

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2018

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21 people found this helpful

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Kevin

Marvelous as it says

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2020

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I couldn't help bust out laughing at some of the passages in this book. If you are taking this too seriously, then you are a square. It's a kids book.

6 people found this helpful

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M. T. Crenshaw

Fun for all ages but it needs parental supervision

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2016

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7/10
This is a very naughty fun book for people of all ages. A novella more than a proper novel, George's Marvellous Medicine tells what happens when Georges gets fed-up with his witchy grandma and decides to make a "medicine" to poison her. He takes everything he finds in the house, cosmetics, toiletries, laundry products, animal medicines and painting, mixes them all, and then weird "magic" starts to happen.

The character of George has a mix of naughtiness, good heart and innocence that will delight children and adults alike. The grandma is hateable from the very beginning, and George's parents are quite normal people.

George's Marvellous Medicine is more for early teens than for children as the mere concept of poisoning, vengeance, and murder seems a bit too complex to leave the small ones to evaluate on their own, even though this is children fiction. The characters seem quite normal, not part of a fairy-tale or fantasy story, so that is the main problem to me. Dahl himself saw the possible repercussions and included a note at the beginning of the book warning children not to do these things at home. You don't want any children to think that mixing chemicals and feeding people with them is the right thing to do to deal with annoying personalities. The book needs of supervision if your child is small.

Most children books have an embedded teaching, no matter the fun is what attracts children to them. Personally, I would redirect my child's attention by asking some questions at the end of the book, something like:
1/ Georges hates his grandma, because she is a witch, right? Isn't potion-making what witches do? Isn't George's behaviour the same as witches show?
2/ Why do you think grandma doesn't want children to grow? Do you think she was happier when she was George's age?
3/ Why is grandma so grumpy? Is because she is frail and alone? Is because she has mobility problems? Is because nobody pays attention to her? Is because she is sick? Is because of all it?
4/ Why does grandma get so excited when the "medicine" start to work? Why does she get grumpy again when the family start paying attention to the farm animals and not to her?
5/ What would happen if all the farm animals of the planet were fed with the gigantic potion? Would farmers need to use the potion again?
6/ Where does grandma go in the end?

Dahl's narrative in this work is simple but extremely playful with some tongue twisters that reminded me of Dr Seuss.

The illustrations by Quentin Blake are very sketchy, but also fluid and successfully illustrative. I like the way George is depicted, as somewhat matches my mental image of the character.

The Kindle edition is flawless, something that always makes me happy, especially because this is an expensive-ish 134-page e-book. This edition includes a bonus preview of two chapters of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the end, a brief story of Penguin book and other promotional stuff

A very enjoyable amusing quick read, but supervision is needed for small children.

18 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

My daughter devoured this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2021

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Loved hearing my daughter laugh out loud reading this book. She was glued to it for the few days it took her to read. She loves Roald Dahl and this book did not disappoint.

One person found this helpful

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Yahaira Rodriguez

HAPPY!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

I read this when I was a little girl. Ever since I tried looking for this book and people said it didn't exist. Well hello it does and I love it. Can't wait for my little ones to get older to read this.

One person found this helpful

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Sarah Merillat

Loved it!

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Just finished reading this to my girls, loved it! Like all Ronald Dahl books it is excellently written, and easy and fun read, and my girls loved it!

2 people found this helpful

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Weird and fun

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2019

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George’s Marvelous Medicine is a typical Roald Dahl book (read: weird, but fun to read). It’s outlandish and funny and quite imaginative. I highly recommend it to kids of all ages. It makes a great read-aloud, too!

One person found this helpful

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Wendy C

Another Dahl Great

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021

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My kid likes Dahl's books including this one.

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Srat

A marvelous read!

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2017

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My 9 year old son and I are in a mother son book club and this was our first book. It is charming and funny... and all of the little boys loved it. It is an easy/fast read. All of Roald Dahl's books are amazing!

3 people found this helpful

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Sarah R

My five-year old daughter thought this book was pretty hilarious. George's grandmother is a pretty terrible person ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

My five-year old daughter thought this book was pretty hilarious. George's grandmother is a pretty terrible person and my daughter was shocked at some of the things she said to George. It was a good opportunity for us to talk about how we talk to and treat each other and how awful the grandmother in the book was. Overall, it's a pretty fun book.

2 people found this helpful

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