Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:

Charlie and the Chocolate is a very popular written by the British author Roald Dahl. The book is really popular among kids all across the globe. Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket are the main characters around whom the story revolves in the chocolate factory.

It was first published in 1964 in United States of America by Alfred A.Knopf, Inc and is regarded as one of the most popular and beloved stories of 20th century. Later on, in the year in 1967 it was published in United Kingdom by George Allen and Unwins. The book was such a hit with the readers that it was also adapted in two major motion pictures: Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory in the year 1971 and Charlie and the chocolate factory in the year 2005. Roald Dahl also carried on his work to write the sequel of the Charlie and the chocolate factory which was titled as Charlie and the great glass elevator in the year 1972.

The centre of the attraction is the Charlie who belongs to a poor family, lives in a small home with his parents and four grandparents. The story tells us that Charlie is quite a kind hearted guy who loves his family despite the hardships. Apart from his family, the other person whom he loves the most is Candy. Since Charlies family was poor therefore Charlie could only mange a single bar every year. Willy Wonka has his chocolate factory near to Charlies house and it was the biggest chocolate factory in the world. Wonka was considered as the most innovative person since his factory produced a large variety of chocolates including the ice creams that never melt and chewing gum that never looses its flavor. He also built a castle for the Indian prince, Pondicherry completely out of chocolate.

Wonka had to close his factory due to corporate espionage but later on reopened it using the mysterious invisible workers. After few years Wonka announced the opening the factory for the public through lottery. Every year there was a draw for five winners. The winner was allowed to bring one person with themselves. This increased his chocolate sale by manifolds since everyone tried to win the lottery. The winner of the four lottery tickets were four mischievous boys named: Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregrade and a television-obsessed little boy called Mike Teavee.

The last ticket as you can guess went into the hands of charlie. Charlie went to the factory with his Grandpa Joe where he joined the rest of the four winners. All of them were completely amazed to see the confectioneries produced in the Wonka factory. At this moment, Wonka also reveals the secret of invisible workers to them. He told them that the workers are known as "Oompa Loompas". They were pygmy sized people who originated from a nation known as Loompaland.

All through the writer has written about the naughty behavior of the other four kids. Even now and then they seemed to get into some kind of heated argument. All the four kids even got bizarre and even got close to be thrown away from the factory. Augustus Gloop drinks from Wonka's chocolate-mixing river, falls in and is sucked up by a glass pipe leading to the Fudge Room. Violet Beauregarde tried three-course-dinner just out of fun which turned him blue and then made him swell into a very large blueberry. He was sent to the juicing room to squeeze him back to his normal size by the oompa loompas. Veruca Salt was thrown to the garbage chute by squirrels, which were meant for finding and disposing bad nuts. The parents of Veruca tried to rescue him but they were also thrown in the same chute. Then later on they all were recovered covered in garbage. Mike Teavee was miniaturized by a television camera which was there to sample chocolate bars by TV. He was later on sent to the gum stretching room so as to bring him back to his normal dimension. Charlie was the odd one out since he was kind, humble and an unspoiled child.

The end of the story saw a complete turn around. It was told that Wonka played a ploy in the form of lotteries to get his successor. Charlie was the last Golden Ticket winner left standing and hence inherited the whole factory from Wonka. Finally Charlie goes on a trip in a flying glass lift with his granpa Joe and Wonka. The story left a deep impact on the society. This can be easily proven from the fact that even after forty long years of the book release, it is still popular with the people. Moreover a complete confectionary brand has also come into existence. The word golden ticket has got an entirely new meaning after the success of the story. Golden ticket now means a reasured guarantee of something special and exclusive. The reason for closing down the factory by Wonka was not something out of this world but was something that is quite common throughout the world(spies from other candy companies were coming in and stealing secret recipes).

The Author of the Charlie and the chocolate factory, Roald Dahl was inspired by the machinery used in chocolate manufacturing process since he worked for Cadbury at the age of thirteen. The book is still popular with the people across the globe. Nowadays you can even found computer game on Charlie and the Chocolate factory. A complete movie was made on the same topic very recently in the year 2005. The movie got a tremendous response from the audience and was a immediate success. On 1st April 2006, the British theme park Alton Towers opened a family boat ride attraction themed around Charlie and the chocolate factory, based on the book.

Charlie and the chocolate factory have also been awarded by many awards. The worth mentioning here are: New England Round Table of childrens librarians Ward (USA, 1972), Surrey School award (UK 1973), Millenniums Children Book Award (UK 2000) and Blue Peter Book Award (UK 2000). In a nut shell, it can be said that the book is truly absorbing and should be read by each and every child.