Roald Dahl Estate Announces ‘Wonka’ Tie-in Novel

Those of you who enjoy a good film as well as a good book may be aware that Warner Bros is currently working on a film based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Called Wonka, the film stars Timothée Chalamet as the titular character, and will explore how Willy Wonka came to be the eccentric chocolatier we meet in Dahl’s novel.

If you’re excited to return to the magical world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then you’ll be pleased to learn that the Roald Dahl Estate is teaming up with Puffin to publish a tie-in novelisation of the film, written by children’s author Sibéal Pounder. The novel will be released alongside the film’s debut on 15th December. As The Bookseller reports, Puffin publishing director, Ruth Knowles, said: “As the bestselling author of Bad Mermaids and Witch Wars series [Bloomsbury], Sibéal Pounder is an expert in crafting stories for young readers full of irreverent humour, charismatic characters and magic. Sibéal is the perfect voice to bring the story of the ‘Wonka’ movie to the page and we’re excited that families and young people will have the chance to enjoy the magic of ‘Wonka’ on screen and as a book this winter.”

Pounder added: “I admire everything Paul King and Simon Farnaby create, so to have the opportunity to work with their story and screenplay of the great chocolatier was a true delight. Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was such a pivotal text when I was growing up and that chocolate river is as vivid in my mind as any real life childhood memories. It’s been a special project to work on, the script is as magical and hilarious as the story that inspired it, and it has been so much fun adapting it for kids to devour in book form.”

Head of books at The Roald Dahl Story Company, Harriet Murphy, said: “Both the movie and its novelisation capture the unique spirit of Dahl’s original stories and characters – thanks to the brilliance of Paul King’s original story and Sibéal Pounder’s skilful adaptation from screen to page.”