George’s Marvelous Medicine is a children's book written by famous British author, Roald Dahl. It tells the story of a young boy named George, who decides to create a potion for his controlling grandmother after becoming fed up with her constant complaints and demands. He concocts a mixture of various household items, including shampoo, animal pills, and cleaning products, and feeds it to her.

To George's surprise, the potion causes his grandmother to grow to an enormous size, making her unable to fit in the house. Seeing that the potion also works on animals, George’s family encourages George to create more batches. George, however, doesn’t remember the exact recipe, and eventually creates several failed potions, one of which makes people and animals smaller. 

George’s grandma, mistaking the failed batch of potion for tea, drinks it, shrinking and shrinking until she ultimately disappears. This leaves George and his family to celebrate their newfound freedom.

At seven years old, my mother read me this book. Although she was taken aback by the idea of feeding something to a grandmother, I fell in love with the story and opted to read it several times more. In my opinion, George’s well-grounded mischief combined with the imagery of an expanding grandmother was fascinating and made me laugh wholeheartedly.

Filled with Dahl’s trademark dark humor, the story is sure to delight you with its imaginative plot and accompanying hilarious illustrations.

Editor’s Note: To learn more about George’s Marvelous Medicine, click here to check out another insight article based on the book.