The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More facts for kids
First edition cover
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| Author | Roald Dahl |
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| Cover artist | Quentin Blake |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
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Publication date
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1977 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 225 |
| ISBN | 0-14-130470-7 |
| Preceded by | Danny, the Champion of the World |
| Followed by | The Enormous Crocodile |
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More is an exciting collection of seven short stories by the famous author Roald Dahl. These stories are generally thought to be for readers a bit older than those who enjoy his other children's books.
Dahl wrote these stories at different times in his life. Two of them are about his own life. One tells how he first became a writer. The other shares some of his experiences as a fighter pilot in World War Two. Another story in the book is a true account of a British farmer finding a huge amount of ancient Roman treasure. The book was first published in London in 1977.
Contents
Discover the Amazing Stories
The Boy Who Talked with Animals
This story is told by a narrator who goes on vacation to Jamaica. One night, fishermen catch a huge, very old sea turtle. Rich people want to buy it, and a hotel manager wants to make soup from it. But a little boy and his parents show up. The boy screams at the people, calling them "horrible and cruel." His parents explain that the boy loves animals very much and can even talk to them! His father pays the fishermen and hotel manager, and the turtle is set free. The next day, the boy is gone. The fishermen say they saw him riding on the back of the sea turtle, swimming far away.
The Clever Hitch-Hiker
This story is also told by a narrator, who is driving his brand new car. He sees a hitchhiker and offers him a ride. The passenger is described as looking a bit like a rat, with long, white fingers. They start talking, and the hitchhiker has a Cockney accent.
As they chat, the hitchhiker encourages the narrator to drive faster and faster. Soon, a police motorbike pulls them over for speeding. The police officer is very strict and threatens the narrator with a long prison sentence and a big fine.
The narrator feels very sad. But his new friend challenges him to guess his real job. Suddenly, the hitchhiker shows off different items he has taken from the narrator, like his wallet, watch, and even a shoelace! The narrator guesses he is a pickpocket. But the hitchhiker says he is a "fingersmith." He explains that just as a goldsmith is great with gold, he is amazing with his fingers. He claims he is never caught because of his "fantastic fingers." Then, he reveals he has stolen both of the police officer's notebooks, which had all their tickets and details! Feeling relieved, the narrator and the hitchhiker stop on the highway and burn the notebooks in a bonfire.
The Mildenhall Treasure Hunt
This is a true story about a worker named Gordon Butcher. He was plowing a field for a farmer when he found a large amount of Roman treasure. It was pure silver! Another man tried to trick him into thinking it was worth nothing.
This true story was first published in a magazine called The Saturday Evening Post in 1946. It became part of this book collection later. In 1999, it was published as its own book with new pictures.
The Swan's Flight
"The Swan" is a short story about two boys, Ernie and Raymond, who like to bully Peter Watson. When Ernie gets a rifle for his fifteenth birthday, they shoot birds on their way to a rabbit field. As a mean joke, they threaten Peter with the rifle and tie him to the railway tracks. But Peter survives the train by sinking into the ground between the tracks. Ernie then shoots a duck and makes Peter get it. Later, Ernie shoots a swan, even though Peter doesn't want him to. Peter wishes the swan could come back to life. Ernie then cuts off the swan's wings, ties them to Peter's arms, and says, "Look, I have brought the swan back to life!" He then forces Peter to jump from a tree. Peter is shot in one leg and falls from the branch, but he grabs onto another. He sees a bright light and jumps off the branch, which looks like a huge swan flying over the village. Peter then falls into his mother's garden. Mrs. Watson finds him, calls a doctor and an ambulance, and removes the wings from his arms.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Henry Sugar is a very rich man who loves to gamble. One day, he finds and reads a doctor's report about a strange patient. This patient, who called himself "The Man Who Sees Without Using His Eyes," could see even when doctors had sealed his eyes shut and bandaged his head. This man was part of a circus act and used his special ability to earn money. When doctors asked him more questions, he explained that he had always been interested in magic. He studied with a Yogi in India and learned to see through thin things like paper or playing cards. He could even see around solid objects like a wooden door if he could get a finger or hand around it. The doctors thought this man could help teach blind people. They went back to the circus, but the show was canceled because the Man Who Sees Without Using His Eyes had died.
Henry realizes the book has a detailed guide on how to gain this ability. He takes the book and decides to try and learn this skill himself. After just three years, Henry masters the ability to see through playing cards. He can even predict the future! Henry uses these powers in a casino. He sees how greedy other gamblers are. He uses his powers to predict the winning number on a roulette wheel. Later, he wins a lot of money at the blackjack tables. He stops playing more games because he doesn't want too much attention.
Henry wins enough money to buy a small house or a fancy car. But he realizes that the excitement of winning or losing is gone because it's too easy. He worries that using his special sight in the wrong way might harm him. He survives the night and, in the morning, throws all the money off his balcony. Soon, a small riot breaks out as people in London rush to pick up the twenty pound notes falling from Henry's apartment. A police officer scolds Henry and suggests he find a more legal way to give to charity. So, Henry decides to build the best orphanages in the world. This plan works well until he reaches Las Vegas. There, he unknowingly wins a huge amount of money from three casinos owned by the same crime boss. He barely escapes the boss's tough guys. After that, Henry flies to Hollywood. He gets help from a famous makeup artist to create different disguises and fake identities to protect himself. This works well. With the help of his accountant and the artist, he travels the world successfully using many different names and looks. At the end of the story, the author reveals that Henry's accountant chose him, seemingly by chance, to write Henry's story after Henry had passed away. The narrator is shocked by all the events. He also says that Henry's wish came true—the Henry Sugar Orphanages, built all over the world, are indeed the best.
This story is sometimes seen as a playful jab at people who criticized Dahl, calling him the "Master of Nastiness." Here, he gives a happy ending and a sweet name to the main character.
Lucky Break: How I Became a Writer
This is a true story, similar to Roald Dahl's books Boy and Going Solo, but shorter. It talks about the events in his life that led him to become a writer. This includes meeting a famous writer who helped start his career. The story covers Dahl's school days and his teachers, up until his first story was published.
A Piece of Cake: My Pilot Days
This is a true story about Dahl's time as a fighter pilot in World War Two. It shares details about how Dahl was injured and had to leave the Mediterranean area. The first version of this story was written for another writer, C. S. Forester, so he could understand Dahl's experience and rewrite it in his own words. Forester was so impressed by Dahl's story (Dahl didn't think he was a good writer at the time) that he sent it to his agent without changing anything. The agent had it published (under the title "Shot Down Over Libya") in The Saturday Evening Post. This is how Dahl's writing career began! This short story was also published in one of Dahl's other collections of short stories called Over to You in 1946.
Editions of the Book
- ISBN: 0-375-81423-X (hardcover, 2001)
- ISBN: 0-435-12237-1 (hardcover, 1979)
- ISBN: 0-224-01547-8 (hardcover, 1977)
- ISBN: 0-14-130470-7 (paperback, 2000)
- ISBN: 0-14-037348-9 (paperback, 1995)
- ISBN: 0-14-032874-2 (paperback, 1988)
- ISBN: 0-14-005773-0 (paperback, 1982)
See also
In Spanish: Historias extraordinarias (libro) para niños
