2014 was a whipple-scrumptious year celebrating all things Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – and 5 Amazon and Penguin India competition winners found themselves flying to London with real golden tickets grasped in their hands. Many wonders awaited this lucky quintet, from roller skating Oompa Loompas in the WestEnd to a real English tea at Puffin and a chance to explore The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden. Read on to hear of Arushi and Vedika’s adventures!
Arushi, aged 7
“It was one of the happiest days of my life when my mum told me that we had won a holiday to London! It made me feel like Charlie Bucket in my most favourite Roald Dahl book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory which I had read many times. And it was not just me. There were four other children along with their parents. I was wondering what they would be like.
Hello readers we have a very special trip we would like to share with you – yes you! On September 16th we Puffins went on an exciting expedition to the Covent Garden Dragon HallTrust. What is the Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust you may well ask? Well, it’s less fiery then you think.
This wonderful, and quite magical, charity provides social, educational and recreational opportunities for children living around London. It’s all about developing hidden talents and creativity is a must – so who better to road test the new Roald Dahl Audiobooks App than the Dragon Hallers?
In case your ears haven’t been lucky enough to listen yet, the Roald Dahl Audiobooks App has 19 free chapters– and if you like what you hear, then you can download the whole story.
This is what happened when thirteen 8 – 10 year olds, armed with some clever electronic devices, tested the Roald Dahl Audiobooks App. First things first, they listened to Charlie and The Chocolate Factory(read by Douglas Hodge the very first Willy Wonka to tap dance and roller skate his way across the WestEnd stage)
Then each group played with the app for 15-20 mins, exploring all its features.
The final and most important part – we collected their feedback!
And what did they think?
Keren, 8 “I found it super easy and enjoyed flipping through the pages”
Kirsty, 9 “ I enjoyed the music”
Akram, 10 “I enjoyed everything!”
Melat, 9 “It was really interesting”
Amira, 10 “I enjoyed listening to the stories and just imagining it was fun”
Overall they loved the sound effects (whizz pops are always a winner), wanted to listen to more stories and would even recommend it to their family. But they did raise some very good points; they wanted more colours, more pictures, more games add-ons and even mini-movies. Which are all fantastic ideas. Our digital team better watch out because it looks like they’ve got some competition . . .
Thanks to everyone at Dragon Hall for taking part.
You can also try the Roald Dahl app yourself today and let us know what you think in the comments section below! Happy listening!
Have an idea for a brilliant blog post? Buzzing with words? Then email puffin@uk.penguingroup.com with Puffin Blog in the headline.
You may have noticed that this month there’s a new colony of twenty puffins flocking into bookshops – puffins by the name of Charlotte, Stig and Arrietty in fact. We love these stories and so do our mums, and granddads and even our great-great aunties. That’s why we asked LoveReading reviewers young and . . . a little bit older. . . to tell us what they though. First, in the spotlight are those resourceful folk, The Borrowers.
Leoni, age 8, says
The whole time me and my mum were reading this book I was thinking ‘aw they’re so cute’ or ‘that’s cool. I wish I could do that’
I wish there really was little tiny people living under the floor in my house and I wish I was the person who found them. I’ve even got a doll house they could live in, and it’s got tiny furniture!
I loved the film and I loved the book just as much. When my mum was having my little sister and she asked me what I’d like to call her I wanted to call her Arrietty Mariella. It would have been nice if we could have been Borrowers together.
Leoni’s mum says
Growing up ‘The Borrowers’ was one of my favourite books and reading it again with my daughter was a lovely experience. There’s something very exciting about little people living in your house ‘borrowing’ things. I remember as a child (with an overactive imagination) when something went missing thinking we had Borrowers and searching the house for hours just incase, in the hope I might actually see one. It also gave me lots of ideas for making things for myself out of bits and pieces lying around. I’d think to myself ‘here’s a button. What could I use this for?What would a Borrower make out of it?’A truly magical, wonderful story with a happy ending and I’m glad I got to read it again.
Find out more about
Which Borrowers cover did you have? Tell us your favourite moments or tweet a photo using #ShareAPuffinBook and we might just send you a new puffin so you can pass the story on . . . @puffinbooks
See original illustrations from The Borrowers and many more treasures from the puffin archives at the A PUFFIN BOOK Waterstones Summer Exhibition running throughout July and August.
We’ve been chatting to Lucy who has the brilliant YouTube channel themoshimonsterkitty. She’s a big fan of all things Moshi and has reviewed The All-New Moshlings Collector’s Guidefor us. Check out her fantastic review below. Thank you Lucy!
When did you become a Moshi fan?
I became a fan of Moshi Monsters about 4 years ago and I have been in love with Moshi ever since.
What do you like about The All-New Moshlings Collector’s Guide?
I love the layout of the book as it is very easy to understand especially for younger Moshi fans, and it is also very easy to find the Moshlings you are looking for as they are arranged alphabetically.
Who would you recommend the book to?
Any and every Moshi fan who loves collecting Moshlings! The book is so amazing I can’t just pick a few people to recommend this to.
What’s your favourite Moshling?
I really like some of the old classic ones like ShiShi and Scamp but I love some of the newer ones like peeps, Linton & Posy
If you’re a Superfan of any of our books let us know either in the comments of tweet tweet @puffinbooks and we’ll post your review on our blog!
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