'My favorite character is undoubtedly Alfie, the poor old tortoise who gets taken away from his little house on the balcony'
'Mrs Silver,' he said. 'I do actually know how to make tortoises grow faster, if that's what you really want.'
Mr Hoppy is a shy, retired man who has two loves in his life; his plants and Mrs Silver, the lady who lives in the apartment below him. They exchange pleasantries, but that's about it. Mr Hoppy greatly desires Mrs Silver to love him, but all her affection goes to her tortoise, Alfie.
One day she tells Mr Hoppy that she would like Alfie to grow bigger, since he only weighs thirteen ounces (he's about the size of a grapefruit). That is when Mr Hoppy has a great idea. He gives her a piece of paper, and tells her to say the words written on it to Alfie three times a day. He then goes out and buys no less than one hundred and forty tortoises. They all have dark shells to match Alfie's, but are heavier than Alfie.
He then makes the tortoise-catcher, and when Mrs Silver is at work, he gets Alfie and replaces him with a tortoise two ounces heavier. And so, week by week, 'Alfie' gets bigger and bigger. But Mr Hoppy then has a dilemma; 'Alfie' no longer fits into his house!
When Mrs Silver sees this, Mr Hoppy gives her another spell to make him slightly smaller. And then he does it. He asks her to marry him! And of course she says yes, because she is so grateful for him making 'Alfie' grow and shrink according to her needs. And the real Alfie lives on a long time with someone called Roberta Squibb.
I really like this book, like all the other books by Roald Dahl. It's very well illustrated by Quentin Blake. My favorite character is undoubtedly Alfie, the poor old tortoise who gets taken away from his little house on the balcony.
Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!
0 comments:
Post a Comment