Miss Oh Waily’s current bed time story of choice is The BFG by Roald Dahl.   She begs me to read as many chapters as I can, and then asks for more.   As I didn’t read this as a child, which is sacrilege I know, I’m having a good time doing it.  There was absolutely no Dahl in my life except Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in movie form.  Can you say Gene Wilder anyone?

I am quite enjoying getting to know the wacky worlds of Dahl’s imagination in their written incarnation.  And The BFG is full of fabulously ridiculous mish-mashing of words as well as the wild imaginative creations of the giants’ world.

I mean how can I resist words like snozzcumbers, whizzpoppers*, as well as the fact that unbeknownst to me before now that Wellington appears in the story.

‘Wellington?’ Sophie said. ‘Where is Wellington?’
‘Your head is full of squashed flies,’ the Giant said.  ‘Wellington is in New Zealand.  The human beans in Wellington has an especially scrumdiddlyumptious taste, so says the Welly-eating Giant.’

It was all going so well at this point, but by this time in the chapter, I knew what was coming and it wasn’t complimentary.

‘What do the people of Wellington taste of?’ Sophie asked.
‘Boots,’ the Giant said.
‘Of course,’ Sophie said.  ‘I should have known.’

I will forgive Roald for conspiring to say that I taste of boots, because he came up with words like hippodumplings, crockadowndillies, fizzwiggler, humplecrimp, wraprascal, crumpscoddle, disgusterous, sickable, rotsome, rommytot, glubbage,  dogswoggler, frobscottle and many, many more besides.

Tonight I met my first proper tongue-twister and had to have three attempts to get it right.  Oh my brain may ache by the time I finish this one.  See how you go reading this aloud:

‘Catasterous!’ cried the BFG. ‘Upgoing bubbles is a catasterous disastrophe!’

Oh, and the only slightly disturbing feature I have found reading this book, and I’d appreciate other folks’ experiences here…

I find myself morphing into some sort of weird, mixed up part-Cockney, part-Devonian hybrid accent while I’m speaking as the BFG.  I just can’t seem to stop myself doing this.

Please tell me I’m not alone in this.  Please.

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* just don’t you whizzpop around me, alright !?!