Yug Shrestha - Feb 28 2025 Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Puffin Books
Published Year: 1972
About the Book
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator was written by Roald Dahl, and this book was illustrated by Quentin Blake. This book was first published in the U.S. by Alfred A. Knopf.
Plot Summary
This story is about a boy named Charlie who goes on an amazing space adventure. It all starts when Charlie wins the famous chocolate factory. Mr. Wonka, the chocolate extraordinaire, was with the Bucket family in the glass lift. In the lift, the passengers were Mr. Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket (Charlie’s father and mother), Grandpa Joe and Grandma Josephine (Mr. Bucket’s parents), and Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina (Mrs. Bucket’s parents). Everyone was excited. Since they had reached the sky, it had become an elevator.
When Grandma Josephine asked Mr. Wonka but he didn’t answer. So, the three grandparents in bed didn’t trust Mr. Wonka. As Grandpa Joe was with Charlie to explore the famous chocolate factory, he was out of bed. All the grandparents wanted to go home. But Mr. Wonka said they had to go up before they could come down. Mr. Wonka had to press a green button at a precise moment to stop the elevator before they went too high. But Grandma Josephine wanted to go home so badly that she yanked him back to bed. Mr. Wonka couldn’t reach the button, so Charlie pressed it for him. But Mr. Wonka said they were in space, and Charlie had pressed the button late.
They were now in orbit. The great glass elevator was not the only thing orbiting around the Earth, as the President of the United States had launched a hotel in space that was about 1,000 feet long. No one was in the Space Hotel U.S.A. because no one believed it would launch successfully. Since it was a successful launch, another big transport capsule was carrying all the people in charge of their jobs at the space hotel. The operators of the capsule were Shuckworth, Shanks, and Showler. They were famous astronauts.
There was an object nearby, so the people were going to link to the object, which seemed to be the hotel. They were scared. By the time they were describing the object, Mr. President came on the radio and said, “Turn on the camera. Let everyone down here see what you’ve been seeing.” They turned on the camera, and the people on Earth ran to their television sets to see the object, which was actually the great glass elevator. The President thought that the grandparents’ bed was an undercover bomb. They were all scared, pressing buttons. Now, it was time to link up with the hotel. The President ordered the astronauts, saying, “Keep clear of them.” The three astronauts agreed. Meanwhile, in the elevator, there was another type of excitement; they were also going to link up with the Space Hotel U.S.A.
The grandparents wanted to go home and begged for their wish, but Charlie, Mr. Wonka, and Grandpa Joe refused. Mr. Wonka would be pressing two buttons to maneuver to the hotel. Charlie would press a button to go left, and Grandpa Joe would press a button to go right. Mr. Wonka also taught Charlie to jet-propel to reach his button. All the grandparents started to jet-propel. After a while, they got tired and started to rest. They maneuvered successfully. Charlie was very excited to go inside and explore the enormous Space Hotel. Meanwhile, at the transport capsule, they thought the people from the glass elevator would blow up the hotel. So, they called the President on the radio. Millions of people grew scared. Everyone was locked onto their television sets.
The elevator had already linked up with the Space Hotel U.S.A. Shuckworth said, “They’ve linked up, and the bomb is with them,” to the President. The people, the three astronauts, and the President grew even more scared. Mr. Wonka and Charlie’s family were now onboard the massive, almost enormous Space Hotel.
There was no floating inside the Space Hotel U.S.A. After a while, a voice came from the speakers. It was from the control team in Houston. Mr. Wonka acted like they were from Venus and Mars. Now, the people from Earth and the President were convinced that they were from Venus and Mars. The President was scared, and so was the Vice President. Since he was so scared, the President spoke to Mr. Wonka or the eight creatures he thought they were. The President invited them to the White House. They were excited, but they couldn’t go because they were ordinary people, not random creatures from Venus or Mars.
As they were still excited, something came from the lifts of the Space Hotel U.S.A. Something greenish-brown in color, something slimy, and something with big eyes. They were scared to death. They dared not to move or breathe. It looked like an egg standing on its pointed end. It was as tall as a grown-up and wider than the widest person you’ve ever seen. More of those creatures kept coming. They began to stretch longer and longer. They wrote "SCRAM" with their long, stretched bodies.
Everybody was even more scared.
“SCRAM!!!! Get out quick!” shouted Mr. Wonka. They rushed to the elevator, and the three grandparents in bed floated up in the air again. Mr. Wonka fired rockets, and the elevator rocketed at tremendous speed. The hotel was not even in sight at that point. But there was something riding alongside them. It was the same creature.
Mr. Wonka told them all about that creature. The creature’s name was “THE VERMICIOUS KNID” or just KNID. Now, the Knid alongside them was rocketing toward them with its rear end. BANG!! The Knid crashed, but luckily, the great glass elevator was Knid-proof. The Knid had a rear ache after that, its rear turning black and blue.
Character Analysis
Charlie and Mr. Wonka are the main characters of this story. Even though they face many challenges, they don’t give up and accomplish their mission. This amazing story teaches us to be brave, smart, and clever and to never give up. It also teaches us to complete the work we start.
Recommendation
This is an amazing and funny book. It’s very interesting to read. The more we keep on reading, the more we feel like reading. The plot was amazing and full of space adventure. I would definitely recommend you all to read this book.
Name: Yug Shrestha
Grade: IV
Deerwalk Sifal School
Book Title: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Liked by:
