Winged fairies and talking monkeys have always enchanted young minds. For a child, legends, folklore, myths, and fairy tales are amazing and astonishing. But, as we get older and are plagued with responsibilities and work, the enchanting stories of our youth are stashed away in a literal (and metaphorical) dusty cabinet. The release of movies like "Wicked" allows us to sit back and reminisce about the time when these wonderful tales were everything we could think of. For a dose of nostalgia, let's revisit some of the iconic novels that we spent so much of our childhood on.
Children love chocolates and stories about chocolate. Written by Roald Dahl, this popular novel follows the journey of an 11-year-old poverty-stricken boy named Charlie Bucket, who gets invited to meet a renowned but eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka, in his chocolate factory. Along with four other lucky winners who win a "Golden Ticket," Charlie steps into a gigantic chocolate wonderland. The factory, devoid of any human labour, purely functions with the assistance of the Oompa Loompas, a humanoid species that Wonka rescued from a dangerous part of the African jungle. As Wonka guides the children through his many creations of strange chocolate devices, each child falls into a disaster driven by their own impulses, and are evicted from continuing their trip. In the end, Charlie is the only child left who did not get lured into disobeying the rules and is congratulated by Wonka for his genuineness. As a reward, Wonka lets Charlie inherit his massive chocolate factory.
This book, sometimes referred to as "Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll, is loved by children and adults alike. The story follows a little girl named Alice sitting beside a riverbank when she suddenly notices a strange rabbit wearing a waistcoat and a watch, mumbling to himself about how late he is. Alice instinctively follows the rabbit and falls down a long rabbit hole, leading her to enter a world full of bizarre rules and characters. As she navigates her way into this wonderland, she meets several strange creatures and faces several situations that defy logic. She changes her stature several times and is threatened to be executed by a pack of playing cards when suddenly, Alice wakes up to find herself beside the riverbank with her sister by her side. As she rushes to eat after recounting to her sister the eccentric adventures that she had in "Wonderland," her sister sits and ponders over the adventures and how they will entertain Alice’s children in the future.
Once stated to be a book that was universally read according to renowned British poet John Gay, the novel "Gulliver's Travels" can be found sitting in the book cabinet of children and nostalgic adults. The book centres on the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, who ends up in lands inhabited by people of bizarre sizes. His first voyage results in a shipwreck where he finds himself a prisoner to people as little as his hand. This race of tiny people, known as Liliputians, eventually understand that his gigantic stature means no harm to them, and they let him live in their kingdom before he manages to sail away by retrieving an abandoned boat. He is later rescued by a passing ship, but not long after, he sets out on a journey again, where a storm leaves him abandoned in a strange land where the grass is as tall as a tree. A farmer who measures about 72 feet tall finds Gulliver and brings him home as an object of curiosity. Gulliver finds every person of this race is just as enormous in size, and all of them live in a kingdom called Brobdingnag. After being displayed as a curiosity for amusement by the farmer, Gulliver gets sold to the queen, who puts him into a tiny box. One day, an eagle snatches the box and drops it into the sea where he is rescued by some sailors and gets home safely.