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The Magic Finger is a 1966 children's story by British author Roald Dahl. First published in the United States by Harper & Row with illustrations by William Pène du Bois, Allen & Unwin published the first U.K. edition in 1968. Later editions have been illustrated by Pat Marriott, Tony Ross, and Quentin Blake.
- Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake
- 1966
The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl is a story about a girl with a magic finger. She lives next door to the Gregg family who like to hunt for fun and this makes her very angry. She doesn’t think it’s right for people to hunt animals for fun and when she gets angry, her finger takes control.
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Nov 21, 2023 · Learn about the story of a girl with a magic finger that can change people and animals. Find out what the magic finger represents, how the story was written, and what happens to the Gregg family.
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is a children's story published by Roald Dahl in 1966. Different editions were illustrated by William Pene du Bois, Tony Ross, and Quentin Blake.
The story is about an unnamed eight-year-old girl who hates hunting, particularly from the neighbouring Gregg family. She tries to talk the Greggs out of it, but either they laugh at her, or they ignore her completely. What they don't know is that the girl has a magic finger. With this magical finger, she can curse people and disfigure them by blasting out a beam of energy. The girl only does this when provoked or angry at someone and usually the punishment is ironically suited to how they've upset her or something that they were doing at the time. For example, she turns her teacher into a cat for being rude to her because at the time the class was learning how to spell the word 'cat', and she didn't know how to spell it. After this, she swore that she would never use the finger again. However, she gives in to temptation and uses it again when she finally has had enough of the Greggs' mocking of her hatred for hunting.
The next day the Greggs wake up as tiny people with bird wings replacing their arms and their house is taken over by four human-size ducks with human arms instead of wings. The Greggs are forced to leave and build a nest in one of the trees in their garden where they spend the night. The next morning they wake up to find the large ducks with the Greggs' guns standing under their tree, threatening to shoot in the same way that they have shot ducks. Mrs. Gregg begs the ducks not to kill her, her husband or their children, right before one of the ducks speaks to them, revealing that her own children were killed by the Greggs on their last hunting trip. The Greggs promise never to hunt again and the spell is broken, with the Greggs changed back into normal humans and the ducks returning to normal.
A girl with magic powers turns her neighbors into ducks after they hunt and kill animals. The ducks become human again when the girl promises to stop using her finger.
Jan 22, 2009 · When she's very, very angry, the little girl's Magic Finger takes over. She really can’t control it, and now it's turned the Greggs into birds! Before they know it, the Greggs are living in a nest, and that's just the beginning of their problems….
- Roald Dahl
A girl with a magic finger transforms hunters and ducks in a humorous tale by Roald Dahl. Learn about the plot, themes, characters, and illustrations of this classic children's book.
