In this informal interview, Michael Strong talks with a young reader, Alana, about her current reading repertoire and habits. Alana mentions a variety of books ranging from chapter series (Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Robinson Crusoe, Samantha Spinner, Thea Stilton) to picture books (Dumbo). She explains that she often reads multiple books simultaneously, switching between them to keep reading fresh. The discussion then shifts to a comparative analysis of C.S. Lewis and Roald Dahl. Alana identifies fantasy elements in both authors—talking animals and magical inventions—but notes that Dahl’s stories are set in a recognisable real‑world setting while Lewis creates entirely separate worlds. She reflects on the realism of child protagonists, naming favorite characters (Lucy and Susan from Narnia; Charlie and Mrs. Spider from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and offering brief reasons for her preferences, such as kindness, imperfection, and humor. The conversation also touches on secondary characters like Grandpa Joe and the moral outcomes for characters in Dahl’s books. Alana shares her opinion that the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is stronger than its sequel, and that the second Narnia book (Prince Caspian) feels more engaging than the first due to plot twists. The interview ends with Michael expressing enthusiasm for future book talks.
Chapters
Hello?
Hi, Michael Strong.
How are you doing, Alana?
I'm good, how are you?
I'm well, thank you. So we've been talking about books you've been reading. I know you have been reading Narnia, you've been reading Roald Dahl, you said you read, oh, Robinson Crusoe. What else have you been reading?
Um, just now I was reading a book called Dumbo.
Tell me about Dumbo.
It's about an elephant with really big ears and he's in the circus and everyone makes fun of him because he's clumsy and stuff, but then he figures out that he can fly because of his big ears, they act like wings. That's the part that I'm on now.
All right, is that a big book or is that a pretty short book?
Actually, it's a pretty short book, not a chapter book.
That's what I thought. I remember it's a great story, but it's not a chapter book. So in terms of chapter books, are those the ones you're reading? Robinson Crusoe, Roald Dahl, and C.S. Lewis, or are you reading any other chapter books?
Here and there I read Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans. I'm on the third book, which I think is the last book.
Got it.
Sometimes I read other chapter books called the Thea Stilton books. You know who Geronimo Stilton is? I don't. Okay, so he's a mouse who writes all these different kinds of books and stuff, and Thea Stilton is his sister. And she also writes stories, except they're not about her. It's about her friends, her 5 friends, and they go on crazy adventures and stuff. It's really cool.
Got it. So it sounds like you are reading a whole bunch of books at once. Is that the case? Do you read one book and finish it, or do you like to read 3, 4, or 5 books at once?
Um, Do you mean like chapter books or just books in general?
Yeah, chapter books, because it sounds like you've got a lot of chapter books going.
I kind of like to do it mix up, mix up because it just gets more interesting. Like, oh, I have to rack my brain to remember this, or I have to rack my brain to remember that, or— and then all of a sudden it's really interesting. Then I read that book and then I come back to the book that I was just reading. And then, oh, I forgot what happened. Oh yeah, this is what happened.
Got it. So how many different chapter books would you say you're usually reading at any given time?
What do you mean different types?
Different chapter books. So suppose you're reading, suppose you're halfway through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and halfway through Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and halfway through Robinson Crusoe, then you would be reading 3 different chapter books at once. I'm just asking how many books, if you're reading chapter books, multiple chapter books, do you read 2 at a time, 3 at a time?
One time I was reading 2 at a time except I just read one series and then I read the other. Right now, really I don't have a number because I have a lot of books and I just read sometimes random. Like, oh, I want to read this, then I want to read that, oh, I want to read this, and then that, and then that.
Got it.
Just keeps going.
I'm very similar. I have lots of books going all the time. What's the most recent book you finished? Chapter book.
The most recent chapter book I finished is the fourth book of Narnia, Prince Caspian. I went on to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Got it. So maybe let's, let's think about C.S. Lewis versus Roald Dahl. In what ways are those two authors similar, and in what ways are they different?
I think they both write like fantasy and stuff. For example, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I would think that's fantasy because no one can— I don't think anyone invented or can invent ice cream for hot ice cream for really, really, really cold days, or gum that gives you a full-course meal. I don't think anyone can invent that, but maybe. So to me, that's kind of fantasy. And C.S. Lewis also writes about fantasy, like where animals can talk, other lands, and stuff like that.
Okay, so that's the similarity, and then what are the differences?
Maybe Roald Dahl writes a little bit more about like the real world, because like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it's actually in London or England, I forget which one, and it's actually a chocolate factory. There are chocolate factories in this world. Yeah, I think that he writes about that, and then C.S. Lewis kind of writes about, I think, a little more fantasy because it's not actually on Earth, it's in different worlds, and there's talking animals, and animals don't talk here. There's no care paravalence in on earth. I don't think so, at least. She just might— he or she, I don't really know. C.S. Lewis just writes more about like fantasy lands and fantasy animals and stuff.
It is, by the way, a he. His name is Clive Staples Lewis, and Clive is not a common name anymore, but he was a man. So how about the kids? So in both Roald Dahl and in C.S. Lewis, kids are the protagonists, you know, it's all about the kids. Do you think the kids are equally real in Roald Dahl and C.S. Lewis, or the kids more real in one of them than the other?
I think they're both equally real, like it could be possible that Diggory or Polly was alive and then died a long time ago, and it could be possible that Charlie died a long time ago or was alive or is alive right now. It could be possible the books could be based off of them.
And do you like the characters equally, or who's your favorite character in C.S. Lewis, and who's your favorite character in Roald Dahl?
Um, my favorite character— one of my favorite charac— Two of my favorite characters in C.S. Lewis is Lucy and Susan. I think they're pretty cool.
Can you say more about why? What makes them cool?
Why? No, I don't really know. I just like them.
Okay, you like their personalities?
Yeah.
Do you think they're courageous? Do you think they're smart? Do you think they are kind?
I think Susan's a little too logical. She thinks about stuff too much and she doesn't take chances. She doesn't risk anything.
So, so she's imperfect but you really love her anyway?
Yeah, she's pretty cool.
Okay, that, that's totally— that's like real life. I mean, I think everybody's imperfect and we love them anyway. So, um, those your favorite C.S. Lewis? How about your favorite Roald Dahl? Character?
Um, one of my favorite Roald Dahl characters is Mrs. Spider and Charlie.
Because?
Oh, because Mrs. Spider, I also kind of feel bad for her because Aunt Sponge just killed her grandfather and threw him in the toilet or in the sink, I forget which one. And I also really like Charlie because he's really kind. And nice, and he doesn't lie, and he's really trustworthy.
Yeah, fair enough. I had forgotten about the spider. Certainly Charlie is a wonderful character. Would you say that Charlie deserves the good things that happen to him at the end of the story?
I think he does, and he doesn't get too greedy when he sees the things he likes. He just wants, like, for example, I mean, he's not too greedy when he uses the change that he got to buy another bar of chocolate that had the golden card in it. I don't think he was too greedy because that, I mean, he never gets to eat them, so I don't think he was too greedy.
Is that part of why he deserves to win, or do you think it makes sense that he deserves to win, or does it not make sense to say he deserves it?
I think it makes sense because he didn't do anything, like he didn't get in trouble, especially in the Wonka factory, you should be aware. Yeah, I think that's why he got it.
Okay, just going in a different direction, I remember one of the uncles being really funny and my favorite uncle. I'm sure you know which—
Oh, Grandpa Joe?
Grandpa Joe, yes. So do you like Grandpa Joe?
I do, he's really cool.
Say more, why do you like Grandpa Joe?
Although he's over, he's probably over 80 or maybe over 90, who knows, he's really, really funny, enthusiastic, and he tells really good stories.
Yeah, he does, he does. Yeah, no, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I like lots of Roald Dahl, but for me Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is my favorite Roald Dahl book. Does that make sense?
Yeah. Yeah, it does. Have you read the second book from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator?
I have. What do you think about that one? Have you read that one?
I have. I think it's pretty cool, those aliens and stuff, and they also get to go to the White House, and then that finally gets the other three old people out of the bed.
Fair enough, but do you like it better than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? The same as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or less than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
A little less than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has a lot of interesting stuff and really bad stuff that happens, and it's kind of funny because I think the other kids deserve that. Like, for example, Veruca Salt, she was very, very spoiled and greedy. I think she earned whatever she— oh yeah, I think she earned to go into the rubbish chute. I think Violet Brigade got what she got because it was too intimidating for her, and she's kind of greedy too, even though she knows that she's not supposed to eat that piece of gum, and she knows that Willy Wonka is not ready with that yet, but she does it anyways.
Yeah, totally agreed. I totally agree. I also— one of the reasons I I like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a lot better than Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. And I still like it, but I think it's one of those things where sometimes an author creates a really cool imaginary world, and I love some of the books just because I love the imaginary world. So I would say I love Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator because it is a fun imaginary world, but I feel like the real story is in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And after, you know, the poor Suffering Charlie wins the great prize when all the bad kids lose along the way, you know, that's the sort of hurrah, and then Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is just sort of more. It's kind of like an epilogue, you know what I mean?
Yeah.
There are a lot of books like that where I love some books by the author and then I just keep reading more books by the author because I love the world they've created, even if the other stories are not quite as good.
Yeah.
Can you think of another example of a book like that where you read it, you read one of the other books and it wasn't quite as good, but you just love the world so much?
I think in Chronicles of Narnia, if I compare book 1 and book 2, I kind of like book 2 better because, like, they find Susan, Lucy, Peter, and Edmund, like, Edmund almost turns fully evil, just a little bit evil, and then he turns back into good, and it's really interesting. Then they have to fight in the war with the White Witch, and then, and then for me, when I watched the movie, it was a really big twist when Aslan killed the White Witch. I thought, I really thought it was going to be Lucy, either Lucy, Susan, Edmund, or Peter. So that was a big twist for me. That's kind of why I like it better than the first one.
Yeah, I like what you're calling a twist. Would you say kind of a surprise, a plot twist that's very surprising?
Yeah, like the plot, um, Aslan all talks about, always talked about the prophecy, oh the prophecy, these kids are gonna beat them, not me, so it's kind of a plot twist for me when, when I watch the movie and Aslan just killed the White Witch instead of Peter, Susan, Edmund or Lucy.
Yep. Well, this is fun. I could keep talking about books for a long time. Do you like talking about books?
I do.
Okay. Well, and I try to keep these relatively short for both of our sake, and so I want to wish you a great Sunday, and maybe we talk more about books next Sunday. How's that?
