Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvelous Medicine is a whimsical and mischievous tale about a young boy who attempts to change his grumpy grandmother’s attitude—through an unconventional and rather chaotic experiment.
The story begins when George’s parents leave him home alone with his sour and unkind grandmother. Before leaving, his mother reminds him to give Grandma her medicine at exactly eleven o’clock. However, George, fed up with her constant nagging and cruelty, decides that she needs a new kind of medicine—one that might make her a little nicer.
Determined to create something extraordinary, George gathers all sorts of odd household ingredients, mixing everything from shoe polish and engine oil to toothpaste, spices, and even jujube fruit juice. After boiling the strange concoction, he replaces Grandma’s regular medicine with his homemade version.
When Grandma takes the medicine, an astonishing transformation occurs—she begins to grow and grow until she towers over the house! Instead of being alarmed, she becomes convinced that she is magical. George's parents return home, shocked but intrigued by the effects of the medicine.
Excited by the possibilities, George and his father decide to experiment on the farm animals, hoping to create larger livestock that could be sold to farmers. However, when they attempt to recreate the formula, each batch produces unpredictable results—one mixture causes only a chicken’s legs to grow, while another makes the animals shrink.
In a final, unintended twist, George gives Grandma a different batch, which causes her to shrink smaller and smaller—until she completely disappears! With no way to reverse the effects, George’s once-grumpy grandmother is gone for good, much to everyone’s surprise (and perhaps relief).
Filled with humor, mischief, and Dahl’s signature dark wit, George’s Marvelous Medicine is a playful story that explores curiosity, consequences, and the unexpected results of reckless experimentation.
