The BFG (Chapters 13-24)

"That's why they always put two blank pages at the back of the atlas. They're for new countries. You're meant to fill them in yourself."

-Young Pilot, Chapter 22, Capture!

I can't deny that the beginning half of The BFG moves at a rather slow pace. I tend to enjoy descriptions of characters and setting more than exciting plot, so I hadn't noticed until reading my group-mates reactions to the first 12 chapters of the story. However, the 2nd half picks up speed as Sophie and the BFG endeavor to stop the other giants from guzzling humans.

After learning that the giants are going to England (Sophie's home country) to eat schoolchildren, she convinces the BFG to help her. The BFG mixes a special dream to convince the Queen that the giants are (a) real and (b) a serious problem. In the dream, he tells the Queen that he and Sophie want to stop them. He even shows a little girl sitting on the Queen's bedroom windowsill. According to their plan, when the Queen wakes up, she'll find Sophie in her bedroom, and she'll have to believe that the whole dream was real!

As crazy as this plan is, it actually works. The Queen's maid, Mary, finds Sophie on the windowsill. Not only that, the dream matches with the events of the previous night as the giants snatched children from boarding schools around London. Sophie introduces the BFG to the Queen, who takes the whole situation remarkably well, considering she is meeting a 24-foot-tall giant.

The Queen has her butler, Mr. Tibbs, prepare a special breakfast for her guests. As you can imagine, incredible accommodations must be made to provide seating, utensils, and enough food for the BFG. After the BFG eats the entire contents of the royal kitchen, the Queen calls leaders from various countries to learn that similar events are happening all over the world. She decides that her entire Army and Air Force must be deployed to capture the giants.

Sophie, the BFG, the Head of the Army, and the Head of the Air Force take off for Giant Country with a fleet of "bellypoppers" (helicopters) to catch the giants!

Pacing

The pacing in the second half is a little quicker than the first half, especially while our heroes are trying to capture the giants. However, I would not use this book as a model text for good pacing. Roald Dahl slows down much of his story-telling to provide excessively in-depth descriptions. Some readers may find themselves bored by the many pages devoted to executing a royal breakfast or traveling to and from Giant Country. 

Students may need assistance to pick out the important plot points in the story. You could have students use StoryboardThat to make a visual representation of how the events unfolded. They would also have to use the descriptive language to find details to include in their pictures. 

These are some sample storyboard squares 

for the beginning of The BFG.

To see the entire storyboard, click here.
(Spoiler warning!)

Themes

There are many themes in this story about friendship, not judging people by their appearance, believing in yourself, and making morally right choices. I especially loved the part where the BFG is leading the helicopters to Giant Country. The military men are afraid of this unknown land that they can't find in their atlases. Yet, the young, adventurous pilot assures them that discovering new places is the very purpose of those blank pages at the end of the book. I want my students to know that it's okay to go outside of their comfort zones. They never know what wondrous things are lurking at the edge of their imagination! 

Sources

Dahl, R. & Blake, Q. (1982). The BFG. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Viking Penguin.

Murphy, M. (2019, January 19). The BFG storyboard. Retrieved from https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/morganmurphy92431/the-bfg-storyboard.