IT is 40 years since a little lad called Charlie Bucket first found his dreams coming true as he walked through the gates of Willy Wonka's legendary chocolate factory. In the years since, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory has become one of the most famous children's stories ever told. Roald Dahl's book has been translated into 32 languages and has sold 13.7 million copies worldwide. There has already been one film starring Gene Wilder, and now Hollywood is making another, this time with Johnny Depp as Wonka and featuring chocolate bars made at Nestl in York.

Despite everything, however, the story of Charlie and his golden ticket remains as fresh today as it ever was.

Charlie, who lives with his family in a "small wooden house on the edge of a great town" and has watery cabbage soup for dinner, has to walk past the great gates of the Wonka chocolate factory every day on his way to school.

"And every time he went by, he would begin to walk very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around him," the book goes.

Charlie can't afford to buy any chocolate, so when Wonka prints five golden tickets offering the winners a magical tour of the chocolate factory, he can only watch enviously as they are won one by one.

Then one day he spots a silver coin glittering in the gutter as he walks home from school - and uses it to buy a bar of Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight.

"Charlie picked it up and tore off the wrapper... and suddenly... from underneath the wrapper...there came a brilliant flash of gold. Charlie's heart stood still. 'It's a Golden Ticket!' screamed the shopkeeper."

So Charlie gets to go on the magical tour - complete with rainbow drops, lickable wallpaper and even a chocolate waterfall - after all. And when it comes to an end, what happens next surpasses even Charlie's wildest dreams...

Now, to mark 40 years since the book was first published, Puffin is bringing out a special anniversary gift edition, with black and white illustrations by Quentin Blake.

To add a fresh twist they are teaming up with Waterstone's to offer five lucky children the chance to win an ultimate 'money can't buy' Roald Dahl experience of their very own. Not a trip to a chocolate factory, this time, but a visit to the studio of Quentin Blake, Dahl's famous illustrator, followed by lunch at Dahl's home, Gipsy House, and a sneak preview of the Roald Dahl Museum.

Entry will be by golden ticket. "And any child who buys any Roald Dahl book in Waterstone's during August will have the chance to win one of the golden tickets," says a Waterstone's spokesperson. "They could turn up absolutely anywhere in the country, just like in the book!"

Updated: 09:20 Wednesday, August 04, 2004