Fiery broth and witches brew, foamy froth and riches blue, fume and spume and spoondrift spray, fizzle, swizzle, shout hooray! Watch it sloshing, swashing, sploshing, hear it hissing, squishing, spitting, Grandma better start to pray." Write a set of instructions to teach someone how to make their own marvellous medicine? (see Resources below). It made George choke and splutter. It was a smell unlike any he had smelt before. It was a brutal, bewitching smell, spicy and staggering, fierce and frenzied, full of wizardry and magic.

Look at different types of materials… Which ones would dissolve in George’s medicine? Which ones would melt? Which ones would float / sink? Mmmm. I really like Roald Dahl but this book...is a little scary. I wouldn't let my child read it. Introducing the idea into a child's head to create a concoction to add to a liquid medicine someone is currently taking is not something I want to do. Design a label for the bottle of George’s Marvellous medicine. What information would it need to include?The contraption used to scoop the tortoises is a perfect opportunity to explore levers and pulleys, with the children designing and building their own tortoise retrieving device. You may also be interested in... This story leads to a fantastic opportunity to work with profits and costs. Mr Wormwood explains how he cheats car buyers by adding sawdust to silence the gearboxes. Can children work out his costs and the profits received from his fraudulent cars? In George's Marvellous Medicine we meet young George who is burdened with the job of giving his Grandmother her daily medicine. Again Dahl has gone against the norm and written the Grandmother as a mean, snarling, despicable character rather than the sweet old lady we are accustomed to with book Grandmothers. A simple investigation where spices are placed in film canisters is a great introduction to the sense of smell. Do the children know what they are? Do they like them? Which is the strongest? Chapter 12 is named Metamorphosis. Are there examples in nature where animals undergo metamorphosis? James and the Giant Peach I would highly recommend this book because it was amazing and tremendous, and I would mainly recommend it for 7 to 12 year olds.

For example, in this book Grandma (who has been made gigantic through the Marvelous Medicine) hurls epithets at her family (who have remained normal size) and uses the phrase "miserable midgets" (p.61) which has now been changed to "miserable bunch" and later, after she has been shrunk, says "How would you feel if you'd been a glorious giant a minute ago and suddenly you're a miserable midget" (p.86), in which "a miserable midget" has been changed to "almost invisible." In the first case, the revision misses the crucial distinction of size, and in both cases they lose the alliteration (yet "glorious giant" remains, without its balancing partner - this is basic rhetoric and the "editors" don't get it).He begins to look all around the house and the barn for all sorts of medicines, lotions, creams, paints; just about anything he could get his hands on to mix up for the medicine. When he is finally complete, he gives the medicine to his granny, causing some rather unexpected results. Left with an ungrateful and rude grandma he decides to start a new medicine to make her less rude and mean. He mixes, shoe polish, jujube fruit juice, some spices, toothpaste, and engine oil. He then boils it and puts it in his grandma's medicine. The Twits meet their end when their very strong glue is used against them to turn their world upside down. Can the children investigate what makes the best glue from household supplies? Which will hold a Lego character upside down for the longest time? George’s Marvellous Medicine Comic Strip Creation: Have the children create comic strips depicting their favourite scenes or moments from the book. Encourage them to use dialogue and captions to retell the story in a visual format.

George manages to make the farm animals swell to gigantic sizes, could this solve the world food shortage? Can the children create their own pH scales using things found around the house? What happens when you combine liquids of different pH? This story also provides an excellent opportunity to discuss health and safety: should we eat things found around our homes? Danny the Champion of the World

More clips from Texts - Magic

After Grandma entirely disappears, we are told, "'That's what happens to you if you're grumpy and bad-tempered,' said Mr. Kranky. 'Great medicine of yours, George.'" (Grandma was George's father's mother-in-law, so you know.) Children could explore density columns, changing the liquids they add to ensure separation. A really challenging version of this is to create different coloured concentrated sugar solutions to create a rainbow of colours in the jar. Retell the story using expression and thinking about the performance. Watch this Youtube video for some inspiration: George didn't say a word. He felt quite trembly. He knew something tremendous had taken place that morning. For a few brief moments he had touched with the very tips of his fingers the edge of a magic world." Look at the cover of the book (if available). Based on the cover, what do you think will happen in the book?