The BFG (short for The Big Friendly Giant) is a 1982 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl.

The book is dedicated to Dahl's oldest daughter, Olivia, who had died of measles encephalitis at the age of seven in 1962.

The BFG explains, in a unique and messy speech, that his nine neighbours are much bigger and stronger giants, who all happily eat humans every night.

The BFG takes Sophie to Dream Country but is bullied along the way by his neighbors, led by Fleshlumpeater, the largest and strongest.

Resentful of the other giants' mistreatment of him earlier that day, the BFG sneaks up to where they are napping and looses the nightmare on Fleshlumpeater, who has a dream about a giant killer named Jack and accidentally starts a brawl with his companions due to his indiscriminate flailing and thrashing about while still asleep.

Every country that the giants had visited in the past sends thanks and gifts to the BFG and Sophie, for whom residences are built in Windsor Great Park.

Tourists come in huge numbers to watch the giants in the pit, who are only fed snozzcumbers (although they receive an unexpected welcome snack when three drunks manage to climb the safety fence one night and fall in).

"[8] The decision was met with sharp criticism from groups and public figures including authors Salman Rushdie[9][10][11] and Christopher Paolini,[11] British prime minister Rishi Sunak,[9][10] Queen Camilla,[9][12] Kemi Badenoch,[13] PEN America,[9] and Brian Cox.

The BFG has won numerous awards including the 1985 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis as the year's best children's book, in its German translation Sophiechen und der Riese[16] and the 1991 Read Alone and Read Aloud BILBY Awards from the Children's Book Council of Australia.

[17] In 2003 it was ranked number 56 in The Big Read, a two-stage survey of the British public by the BBC to determine the "Nation's Best-loved Novel".

[4] The U.S. National Education Association listed The BFG among the "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" based on a 2007 online poll.

[18] In 2012, it was ranked number 88 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S. audience.

[38][39] The Royal Shakespeare Company and Chichester Festival Theatre will present a new stage adaptation by Tom Wells and directed by Daniel Evans, which will open at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2025 for the Christmas season, before transferring to Chichester in March 2026.

A theatrical live-action film adaptation was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Mark Rylance as the BFG, as well as Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall, and Bill Hader.