Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl was first published in 1964. It is one of the best-loved children’s books ever written, telling the story of a poor but kind-hearted boy who wins a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the world’s most magical factory.
Charlie Bucket lives with his parents and four grandparents in a tiny house. The family is very poor and often goes hungry. Nearby stands the enormous, mysterious chocolate factory owned by the eccentric Willy Wonka — a factory that has been locked for years, with no workers coming or going.
Wonka announces that five Golden Tickets are hidden inside Wonka chocolate bars around the world. The finders will win a tour of the factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate. One by one, four tickets are found by greedy, unpleasant children: Augustus Gloop (a greedy boy), Violet Beauregarde (obsessed with chewing gum), Veruca Salt (a spoiled brat) and Mike Teavee (obsessed with television). Charlie, who can only afford one bar of chocolate a year, finds the fifth ticket.
The children and their parents tour Wonka’s extraordinary factory, escorted by Wonka himself. They visit the Chocolate Room (with its chocolate river and edible meadow), the Inventing Room, and many other wonders. One by one, through their own bad behaviour, the four unpleasant children are removed from the tour: Augustus falls into the chocolate river; Violet chews an experimental three-course-dinner chewing gum and turns into a blueberry; Veruca Salt tries to take a nut-sorting squirrel and is declared a ‘bad nut’ and thrown down the rubbish chute; Mike Teavee shrinks himself by stepping into the television transmitter.
Charlie alone remains. Wonka reveals that the whole tour was a test — he has been searching for an honest, well-mannered child to inherit the factory, because he has no family of his own and needs someone to take over. Charlie is chosen. He is told he can bring his whole family to live in the factory. The book ends with the Bucket family moving into the chocolate factory.
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