last book roald dahl wrote

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• BBC - The dark side of Roald Dahl
• Official Site of Roald Dahl
• Roald Dahl - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Roald Dahl - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Roald Dahl (born September 13, 1916, Llandaff , Wales—died November 23, 1990, Oxford , England) was a British writer who was a popular author of ingenious and irreverent children’s books . His best-known works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988), both of which were adapted into popular films.

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1934, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam , Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) when World War II broke out. Flying as a fighter pilot, he was seriously injured in a crash landing in Libya . He served with his squadron in Greece and then in Syria before doing a stint (1942–43) as assistant air attaché in Washington, D.C. (during which time he also served as a spy for the British government). There the novelist C.S. Forester encouraged him to write about his most exciting RAF adventures, which were published by the Saturday Evening Post .

Dahl’s first book, The Gremlins (1943), was written for Walt Disney but was largely unsuccessful. His service in the RAF influenced his first story collection, Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946), a series of military tales that was warmly received by critics but did not sell well. He achieved best-seller status with Someone like You (1953; rev. ed. 1961), a collection of macabre stories for adults, which was followed by Kiss, Kiss (1959), which focused on stormy romantic relationships.

Dahl then turned primarily to writing the children’s books that would give him lasting fame. Unlike most other books aimed at a young audience, Dahl’s works had a darkly comic nature, frequently including gruesome violence and death. His villains were often malevolent adults who imperiled precocious and noble child protagonists. James and the Giant Peach (1961; film 1996 ), written for his own children, was a popular success, as was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), which was made into the films Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). His other works for young readers include Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970; film 2009 ), Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The BFG (1982; films 1989 and 2016 ), and The Witches (1983; film 1990 ). One of his last such books, Matilda (1988), was adapted for film (1996 and 2022) and the stage ( 2010). Many of Dahl’s books have been illustrated by the award-winning illustrator Quentin Blake .

While Dahl focused primarily on children’s literature late in his career, he continued to produce short stories for adult audiences during this time, which were published in collections such as Switch Bitch (1974), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Six More (1977), and Tales of the Unexpected (1979). Dahl also wrote several scripts for movies, among them You Only Live Twice (1967) and (with Ken Hughes and Richard Maibaum) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). His autobiography, Boy: Tales of Childhood , was published in 1984.

While his lasting reputation to many is that of a beloved children’s author, Dahl has also been a controversial figure both during his lifetime and after. Some of his works, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , were criticized at the time of their publication for their use of racial and sexual stereotypes , but his most notable transgressions came outside of his fiction. In several interviews and nonfiction writings during the 1980s and ’90s, Dahl expressed opinions that were widely viewed as anti-Semitic . While he defended himself as being “anti- Israel ” rather than anti-Semitic, that distinction was not accepted by a number of readers, and his estate published an apology for his statements in 2020. Three years later, Dahl’s publishers announced that they had revised hundreds of insensitive and outdated passages in his classic children’s books, a move that was met with both support for reflecting a changing culture and criticism for perceived editorial overreach.

How many books did Roald Dahl write?

Roald Dahl wrote novels for both children and adults. He also wrote poetry and works of non-fiction.

Below is a Roald Dahl bibliography, divided into different categories.

Children’s Fiction by Roald Dahl

• The Gremlins
• James and the Giant Peach
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• The Magic Finger
• Fantastic Mr Fox
• Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
• Danny, the Champion of the World
• The Enormous Crocodile
• George’s Marvellous Medicine
• The Witches
• The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
• The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
• The Minpins (published in 1991, after Roald Dahl’s death )

Children’s Poetry by Roald Dahl

• Revolting Rhymes
• Dirty Beasts

Novels for Adults by Roald Dahl

• Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen
• My Uncle Oswald

Short Stories by Roald Dahl

• Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying
• Someone Like You
• Lamb to the Slaughter
• Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl
• Switch Bitch
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More
• The Best of Roald Dahl
• Tales of the Unexpected
• More Tales of the Unexpected
• Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories
• The Roald Dahl Omnibus
• Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl
• The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl
• The Roald Dahl Treasury
• The Great Automatic Grammatizator
• Skin and Other Stories
• Roald Dahl Collected Stories

Non-Fiction by Roald Dahl

• The Mildenhall Treasure
• Boy: Tales of Childhood
• Measles, a Dangerous Illness
• Memories with Food at Gipsy House
• Roald Dahl’s Guide to Railway Safety

Roald Dahl also wrote plays and film-scripts.

So, to answer the original question, Roald Dahl wrote 17 children’s novels and 20 books for children in total. In total he has published 48 books (not including published screenplays and plays). This total does include treasuries and collected works and books published after his death. The total will continue to grow as his work is published and repackaged in different forms in the years to come.

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Matilda, by Roald Dahl | Book Review

Book Review of Matilda The Children’s Book Review

Written by Roald Dahl

Illustrated by Sarah Walsh

Ages 6-9 | 192 Pages

Publisher: ‎ Viking Books for Young Readers | ISBN-13: ‎ 9781984836106

Matilda  was the last long kids’ book that Roald Dahl wrote before he passed away in 1990. When Dahl first wrote the book, she was a wicked child and very different from how she is now known to readers worldwide.

Matilda is a very kind-hearted character—she’s a gifted, intelligent, book-loving five-year-old who taught herself to read. She has read every children’s book in the library and a few for adults. Matilda can even do advanced math in her head. Her father (a rotten car salesman) and her mother (obsessed with playing bingo) are completely clueless and treat her almost as terribly as the nasty Miss Trunchbull, the child-hating, ex-Olympic hammer-throwing headmistress at school.

When Matilda meets Miss Honey, a warm-hearted and sweet teacher, she finds her inner strength and uses her newly-discovered exceptional talent to fight back and set more than a few things right in her world. Matilda’s character is certainly one to get behind—she’s empowering, knowledgeable, and brave—and the entire story is freckled with funny bits and peppered with plenty of practical jokes.

This edition contains complete and unabridged text and includes brand-new color illustrations by Sarah Walsh. The artwork brings loads of energy and charisma to the carefully curated cast that Dahl created.

When you read Roald Dahl’s  Matilda,  you’ll be snickering from start to end.

Buy the Book

About the author.

Roald Dahl  (1916-1990) was born in Wales to Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl website:  www.roalddahl.com .

About the Illustrator

Sarah Walsh is an internationally published illustrator whose project range spans from picture books, apparel, home decor, and greeting cards, to name a few. Her work has also been featured on Creative Pep Talk, Buzzfeed, and The Jealous Curator. Sarah has been a working artist since 2001, starting as a designer/illustrator hybrid at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. In 2013 she branched off solo style into the freelance world after connecting with an art agent named Lilla Rogers. Bright color, fashion, mid-century design, the ’80s, fantasy, hand lettering, world culture, and folk art are some of the elements that inform her work. Sarah’s been fortunate enough to collaborate with clients like Chronicle, Blue Q, Nosy Crow, The Guardian, & Frankie Magazine.

Writing and illustrating a children’s book or working with a fashion designer to create an haute couture clothing line are two of her dream projects! When Sarah isn’t busy doing client work, she fills her sketchbook with personal paintings or creates products such as art prints, enamel pins & pillows for Tigersheep Friends, with her husband Colin Walsh, a fellow illustrator.

You can find her work at Sarahwalshmakesthings.com .

Matilda , written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Sarah Walsh, was reviewed by Bianca Schulze. Discover more books like  Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice by following our reviews and articles tagged with Classics , Illustrated Chapter Books , and Roald Dahl .

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

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Roald Dahl Fans

Fan site for author Roald Dahl (1916-1990)

This timeline contains all information about Roald Dahl’s life, the books he wrote, and movies, television shows, and theater productions he was involved in. It continues past his death to the present day (since new Dahl works are still being released).

• Radio Shows
• Short Stories
• Theater and Symphony

Harald marries Sofie

Harald Dahl (Roald’s father) marries Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg and they move to Llandaff, South Wales.

Roald Dahl born

September 13, 1916 – Roald Dahl is born in Llandaff, Wales.

Astri and Harald die

Sister Astri dies of appendicitis at the age of seven. A few months later Roald’s father Harald dies.

Llandaff Cathedral School

Roald enters Llandaff Cathedral School in Wales.

St. Peter’s School

Roald enters St. Peter’s School in Weston-super-Mare, England.

Repton School

Roald enters Repton Public School in Derby.

Roald graduates

Roald graduates from Repton and accepts a position with Shell Oil Company in London.

Roald heads to Africa

Roald begins working in Shell’s branch office in East Africa.

Roald joins the RAF

Roald joins the Royal Air Force and learns to fly fighter planes in Nairobi, Kenya.

Plane crash!

Roald suffers serious injuries as result of a plane crash in Libya. He spends several months in a military hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.

Battle of Athens

April 20, 1941 – Roald rejoins his squadron, then stationed in Greece, and participates in the Battle of Athens.

Roald heads to the U.S.

Invalided out of the War, Roald heads to the U.S. to take up a position as assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

“Shot Down Over Libya”

August 1, 1942 – “Shot Down Over Libya”  is published in  The Saturday Evening Post .

“The Gremlins”

December 1942 – “The Gremlins”  is published in  Cosmopolitan  magazine.

The Gremlins

First published book.

“The Sword”

August 1943 – “The Sword”  is published in  The Atlantic   magazine.

Roald the writer

Dahl secures a literary agent, Ann Watkins, and short stories begin to be published in American magazines.

“Katina”

March 1944 –  “Katina” is published in  Ladies Home Journal magazine.

“Only This”

September 1944 – “Only This” is published in  Ladies Home Journal  magazine.

“Beware of the Dog”

October 1944 – “Beware of the Dog” is published in  Harper’s Magazine .

Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda' and 'James and the Giant Peach,' among other famous works.

(1916-1990)

Who Was Roald Dahl?

Roald Dahl was a British author who penned 19 children's books over his decades-long writing career. In 1953 he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You and married actress Patricia Neal. He published the popular book James and the Giant Peach in 1961. In 1964 he released another highly successful work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , which was later adapted for two films.

Early Life and Education

Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, on September 13, 1916. Dahl's parents were Norwegian. As a child, he spent his summer vacations visiting with his grandparents in Oslo. When Dahl was four years old, his father died.

The young Dahl received his earliest education at Llandaff Cathedral School. When the principal gave him a harsh beating for playing a practical joke, Dahl's mother decided to enroll her rambunctious and mischievous child at St. Peter's, a British boarding school, as had been her husband's wish.

Dahl later transferred to Repton, a private school with a reputation for academic excellence. He resented the rules at Repton; while there, the lively and imaginative youngster was restless and ached for adventure.

While Dahl hardly excelled as a student, his mother offered to pay for his tuition at Oxford or Cambridge University when he graduated. Dahl's response, as quoted from his autobiography, Boy: Tales of Childhood , was, "No thank you. I want to go straight from school to work for a company that will send me to wonderful faraway places like Africa or China."

And that he did. After Dahl graduated from Repton in 1932, he went on an expedition to Newfoundland. Afterward, he took a job with the Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa, where he remained until 1939.

Over his decades-long writing career, Dahl composed 19 children’s books. Despite their popularity, Dahl’s children’s books have been the subject of some controversy, as critics and parents have balked at their portrayal of children’s harsh revenge on adult wrongdoers. In his defense, Dahl claimed that children have a cruder sense of humor than adults, and that he was merely trying to appeal to his readers.

'James and the Giant Peach' (1961)

Dahl first established himself as a children’s writer in 1961, when he published the book James and the Giant Peach , a book about a lonely little boy living with his two mean aunts who meets the Old Green Grasshopper and his insect friends on a giant, magical peach. The book met with wide critical and commercial acclaim.

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (1964)

Three years after his first children’s book, Dahl published another big winner, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . A quirky, solitary businessman, Willy Wonka, has been holed up alone inside his fantastical chocolate factory until he releases five golden tickets inside the wrappers of candy bars. Winners — including the poor little boy Charlie Bucket, who doesn’t have much to eat — are awarded a visit. Some critics have accused Dahl of portraying a racist stereotype with his Oompa-Loompa characters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (1970)

Three farmers are out to get the cunning trickster Mr. Fox, who outwits them every time. Mr. Fox lives in a tree with his wife and family, which was inspired by a real 150-year beech tree Dahl knew as the “witches tree” standing outside his house.

'The BFG' (1982)

Of his many stories, Roald Dahl said The BFG was his favorite. He came up with the idea for a giant who stores dreams in bottles for kids to enjoy when they sleep several years before, and he told the story of the Big Friendly Giant to his own kids at bedtime.

'The Witches' (1983)

A boy happens upon a witch convention, where the witches are planning to get rid of every last child in England. The boy and his grandmother must battle the witches to save the children.

'Matilda' (1988)

Roald Dahl’s last long story follows the adventures of a genius five-year-old girl, Matilda Wormwood, who uses her powers to help her beloved teacher outwit the cruel headmistress.

Dahl wrote several television and movie scripts. Several film adaptations of his books have also been created (all of those made during his lifetime Dahl famously despised), most notably:

'Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' (1971)

This Dahl favorite, originally known as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a book, starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. An originally titled remake of the film, starring Johnny Depp , was released in 2005.

'The BFG' (1989, 2016)

The BFG was first made into a stop-motion animated film in 1989, with David Jason playing the voice of the Big Friendly Giant. The movie was remade in 2016 by Steven Spielberg and featured live actors.

'The Witches' (1990)

In this live-action film features Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch. Rowan Atkinson also appeared as hotel manager Mr. Stringer.

'Matilda' (1996)

Danny DeVito directed this movie adaptation and also voiced the narrator.

'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)

In 2009, Wes Anderson directed this quirky, touching animated feature about the adventures of the farm-raiding Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney ), with a cast including Meryl Streep (Mrs. Fox) and Bill Murray (Badger).

'The Witches' (2020)

Another live-action film of the book starring Anne Hathaway .

Short Stories

Dahl began his writing career with short stories; in all, he published nine short story collections. Dahl first caught the writing bug while in Washington, D.C., when he met with author C.S. Forrester, who encouraged him to start writing. Dahl published his first short story in the Saturday Evening Post . He went on to write stories and articles for other magazines, including The New Yorker .

Of his early writing career, Dahl told New York Times book reviewer Willa Petschek, "As I went on the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic." He went on to describe his foray into writing as a "pure fluke," saying, "Without being asked to, I doubt if I'd ever have thought to do it."

Dahl wrote his first story for children, The Gremlins , in 1942, for Walt Disney . The story wasn't terribly successful, so Dahl went back to writing macabre and mysterious stories geared toward adult readers. He continued in this vein into the 1950s, producing the best-selling story collection Someone Like You in 1953, and Kiss, Kiss in 1959.

Wives and Children

The same year that Someone Like You was published, Dahl married film actress Patricia Neal, who won an Academy Award for her role in Hud in 1961. The marriage lasted three decades and resulted in five children, one of whom tragically died in 1962.

Dahl told his children nightly bedtime stories that inspired his future career as a children's writer. These stories became the basis for some of his most popular kids' books, as his children proved an informative test audience. "Children are ... highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly," he asserted in his New York Times book review interview. “You have to keep things ticking along. And if you think a child is getting bored, you must think up something that jolts it back. Something that tickles. You have to know what children like."

After Neal suffered from multiple brain hemorrhages in the mid-1960s, Dahl stood by her through her long recovery. The couple would eventually divorce in 1983. Soon after, Dahl married Felicity Ann Crosland, his partner until his death in 1990.

Dahl died on November 23, 1990, at the age of 74. After suffering an unspecified infection, on November 12, 1990, Dahl had been admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Roald Dahl
• Birth Year: 1916
• Birth date: September 13, 1916
• Birth City: Llandaff, South Wales
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda' and 'James and the Giant Peach,' among other famous works.
• Writing and Publishing
• Astrological Sign: Virgo
• Interesting Facts
• Of the films that were adapted from his books during his lifetime, Roald Dahl came to despise them.
• Of his many stories, Roald Dahl said 'The BFG' was his favorite.
• Death Year: 1990
• Death date: November 23, 1990
• Death City: Oxford
• Death Country: United Kingdom

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

• Children are ... highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly. You have to keep things ticking along. And if you think a child is getting bored, you must think up something that jolts it back. Something that tickles. You have to know what children like.
• As I went on, the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic. But becoming a writer was pure fluke. Without being asked to, I doubt if I'd ever have thought of it.
• A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
• The writer for children must be a jokey sort of a fellow. He must like simple tricks and jokes and riddles and other childish things. He must be ... inventive. He must have a really first-class plot.

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Roald Dahl Books In Order

Publication order of charlie bucket books.

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Roald Dahl was one of the highly praised British authors, who used to write novels, short stories, and screenplays. He was of the Norwegian descent and liked to write his based on the nonfiction, and children’s book genres. Author Dahl’s fame grew during the 1940s with his prominent works that included both the adult and children’s books. Subsequently, he went on to become one the bestselling authors of the world. Author Dahl was born on 13th September 1916; in Llandaff, South Wales. In the year 953, he released his bestselling story collection titled ‘Someone Like You’. In the same year, he married an actress named Patricia Neal. One of his popular books, Jame and the Giant Peach, was published in the year 1961. Another highly praised novel by author Dahl is titled as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which came out in the year 1964. This book was later made into a couple of Hollywood movies. Throughout his writing career that lasted over a few decades, author Dahl wrote around 19 children’s books. His first published work was a book called Shot Down Over Libya, which was inspired by his meeting with C.S. Forester. During the initial days of his writing career, author Dahl had written a story based on his adventures during the wartime. This story was purchased by a reputed publishing company and this propelled Dahl to explore his career as a writer. When author Dahl was a child, he used to meet his grandparents during summer vacations in Oslo. He had lost his Norwegian father at the age of 4. As a young boy, Dahl joined the Llandaff Cathedral School and received his early education. But, he was a rather mischievous and rambunctious student. The principal had beaten him on a few occasions for playing practical jokes on others. Due to this, her mother enrolled him in a British boarding school named St. Peter’s.

Later, he got transferred to a private school that had the reputation of for its academic excellence. Dahl hardly excelled in his studies, but his mother offered to keep paying for tuition at the Cambridge or Oxford University till the time he completed his graduation. He did not accept her offer as he was more interested to start working straight after schooling do that he could explore faraway places of the world. Eventually, author Dahl went on to take up a job in the oil company called Shell in Tanzania, Africa after his graduation in the year 1932. In the year 1939, he received training as an air force pilot in Nairobi, Kenya, and became a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force. During his service in the Mediterranean at the time of the Second World War, author Dahl crash landed in Egypt and receive serious injuries to his spine, hip, and skull. Following his treatment and surgeries, he was sent back to Washington, D.C., and given the job of as an assistant air attache. Soon after, he thought of becoming a writer after C.S. Forester encouraged him to think of it as a possible career option. After writing a few stories initially, author Dahl wrote his first children’s story in the year 1942. It was titled as The Gremlins and published by Walt Disney. The low response towards the book forced him to focus on writing mysterious and macabre stories for the adult readers. The books that followed later in his career brought a lot and success and fame. Author Dahl married twice in his lifetime. His first marriage with Patricia Neal gave him 5 children. The two got divorced in the year 1983, after which Dahl married his partner Felicity Ann Crosland. The two remained married until his death. Author Dahl suffered from unspecified infection and was admitted to the Radcliffe Hospital, where he died on November 23, 1990.

One of the initial books written by Roald Dahl is titled as ‘Matilda’. It was released by the Puffin publishers in the year 1988. The story is set in the United Kingdom and features Miss Honey, Matilda Wormwood, and Miss Trunchbull as the chief characters. The books begins by showing Matilda as a small girl with excellent academic record. At the age of 6, she is able to solve complex math problems and do a quick reading of adult books. Also, she appears to be a complete nerd and her teacher’s pet. In spite of all this, all her classmates love her. However, Matilda’s life does not look to be a perfect one. She thinks that her parents are idiots and self centered people. Also, the principal of her school, Mrs. Trunchbull, is a nightmare for the students. She likes to fling the students at her will. But Matilda has got all the resources to deal with her, that is saintly patience and astonishing intelligence. Matilda takes the jokes on her parents quite frankly, but when someone does the same for her class teacher Mrs. Honey, she does not like it at all. Author Dahl has shown that there is not a single day that Matilda is not able to carry on her own. In spite of being so typical, the character of Matilda seems very unpredictable. Author Dahl has said that the readers tend to care for the Matilda’s character because along with all her other specialties, she seems to have real feelings for the people in her life.

Another popular book written by author Dahl in his career is titled as ‘The BFG’. Quentin Blake served as the illustrator for this book. The plot is set by author Dahl in London, England, United Kingdom, and depicts Sophie Mercer Evans and the BFG as the lead characters. Puffin Books published this Children’s novel in the year 1992. The start of the shows that Sophie Mercer get captured by a big giant. She calls it as the Big Friendly Giant of the BFG. The giant does not look like a bone crunching one at all. In fact, he is very nice in nature and jumbly. Sophie considers herself lucky that she got captured by a giant like him. If she would have been captured in the middle of a night by the Bonecruncher, the Bloodbottler, or the Fleshlumpeater, or for that matter any giant other than the BFG, she would have become their breakfast long ago. Shortly after, Sophie Mercer Evans comes to know that the other giants are flush bunking in the regions near England for swollomping several little chiddlers and decides to put an end to their activities. Once again, she thinks herself as lucky for having the BFG by her side to help her in her attempt against the other giants.

One Response to “Roald Dahl”

I am looking for a childhood book, a collection of stories in the one hard cover book, had Matilda, BFG, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, George’s Marvellous Medicine, danny The Champion Of The World, The Giraffe And The Pelly, Esio Trot, the enormous crocodile, plus more including some poems which I cant remember, i would love to find the same one again, but cant source iyit may have been a limited edition. thank you.

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Roald Dahl Books in Order (71 Book Series)

Roald Dahl has written a series of 71 books. Here, you can see them all in order! (plus the year each book was published)

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Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024

• Roald Dahl Books in Order

The Gremlins

Over to You

Ten stories of flyers and flying.

Some Time Never

A fable for supermen.

Someone Like You

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

Skin and Other Stories

James and the Giant Peach

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie bucket, book 1.

The Magic Finger

Selected Stories of Roald Dahl

Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Charlie bucket, book 2.

Switch Bitch

The Champion of the World

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

And six more.

The Enormous Crocodile

My Uncle Oswald

Tales of the Unexpected

Taste and Other Tales

A Roald Dahl Selection

More Tales of the Unexpected

New Tales of the Unexpected

The Way Up to Heaven and Other Stories

George's Marvelous Medicine

Revolting Rhymes

The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories

The Umbrella Man and Other Stories

Dirty Beasts

The Best of Roald Dahl

The Witches

Tales of Childhood

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

The Great Switcheroo

Completely Unexpected Tales

A Second Roald Dahl Selection

Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life

Memories with Food at Gipsy House

Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety

The Minpins

The Vicar of Nibbleswicke

Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes

Lamb to the Slaughter and Other Stories

Edward the Conqueror and Other Stories

Roald Dahl's Cookbook

The Roald Dahl Treasury

Further Tales of the Unexpected

The Mildenhall Treasure

Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes

A Taste of the Unexpected

Songs and Verse

Vile Verses

Collected Short Stories

The Dahlmanac

Dahlmanac 2

More About Boy

Roald dahl's tales from childhood.

Spotty Powder and other Splendiferous Secrets

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Pop-Up Book

Charlie bucket, book 3.

Roald Dahl's Marvellous Joke Book

Roald Dahl's Fantabulous Facts

Roald Dahl's Scrumdiddlyumptious Sticker Book

Three Tales of Magic and Mischief

What to read next.

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Backseat Book Club

Roald dahl wanted his magical 'matilda' to keep books alive.

Author Roald Dahl stands with his wife, American actress Patricia Neal, and their newborn daughter, Lucy, outside their home in Buckinghamshire, England, in August 1965. Roald Dahl died in 1990. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

Author Roald Dahl stands with his wife, American actress Patricia Neal, and their newborn daughter, Lucy, outside their home in Buckinghamshire, England, in August 1965. Roald Dahl died in 1990.

Every night, author Roald Dahl told his children a story: "Most of them [were] pretty bad," he admitted in a 1972 BBC4 interview, "but now and again you'd tell one and you see a little spark of interest. And if they ever said the next night, 'Tell us some more about that one,' you knew you had something. This went on for quite a long time with a story about a peach that got bigger and bigger and I thought, 'Well heck, why don't I write it.' "

That bedtime story became Dahl's first children's book, James and the Giant Peach.

Lucy Dahl — the youngest of Dahl's five children with his first wife, American actress Patricia Neal — remembers hearing those stories before she fell asleep. She joins Michele Norris to talk about Matilda, this month's pick for NPR's Backseat Book Club . It's the story of a lonely girl with special powers and neglectful parents. Matilda finds her courage facing off with a bully of a headmistress, named Miss Trunchbull.

The magical narrative of Dahl's books makes the writing look easy, but there was a lot of toil behind that playful language. Lucy remembers a letter her father wrote to her in December 1986, two years before Matilda was published:

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"The reason I haven't written you for a long time is that I have been giving every moment to getting a new children's book finished. And now at last I have finished it, and I know jolly well that I am going to have to spend the next three months rewriting the second half. The first half is great, about a small girl who can move things with her eyes and about a terrible headmistress who lifts small children up by their hair and hangs them out of upstairs windows by one ear. But I've got now to think of a really decent second half. The present one will all be scrapped. Three months work gone out the window, but that's the way it is. I must have rewritten Charlie [and the Chocolate Factory] five or six times all through and no one knows it."

Interview Highlights

On writing Matilda

Matilda was one of the most difficult books for him to write. I think that there was a deep genuine fear within his heart that books were going to go away and he wanted to write about it.

On how he loved writing, but he also approached it as a job

My father was really very much a single dad. My mother was in America working throughout most of our childhood. He wrote for the money — he didn't hide that. He also wrote screenplays and he hated writing screenplays, but he did it because the money was good. He wrote Chitty [Chitty] Bang Bang. He adapted Ian Fleming's [James Bond] novel ... You Only Live Twice .

On his work ethic

I remember waking up in the night and going to the bathroom and seeing the glow of the light in the little [writing] hut while it was still dark outside. I don't know what time it was but that was during the days when he was adapting screenplays and the deadlines would kill him. He didn't like working on deadlines. But he did it because he had to.

Lucy Dahl remembers that her father's writing hut was "a sacred place." Even on the days he wasn't feeling inspired to write, he'd go out there for hours at a time and "put his bottom on the chair." Click Here To Learn More About "The Story Behind The Storyteller." The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre hide caption

Lucy Dahl remembers that her father's writing hut was "a sacred place." Even on the days he wasn't feeling inspired to write, he'd go out there for hours at a time and "put his bottom on the chair." Click Here To Learn More About "The Story Behind The Storyteller."

On the "hut" in the garden where he did his writing

His hut was a sacred place. ... We were all allowed to go in there, but we only disturbed him when we absolutely needed to because he used to say that his hut was his nest. You would walk in and the smells were so familiar — that very old paper from filing cabinets. And he sat in his mother's old armchair and then put his feet up on an old leather trunk, and then on top of that he would get into an old down sleeping bag that he would put his legs into to keep him warm.

He then had a board that he made that he would rest on the arms of the armchair as a desk table and on top of that he had cut some billiard felt that was glued on top of it, and it was slightly carved out for where his tummy was. When he sat down ... the first thing he did was get a brush and brush the felt on his lap desk so it was all clean. He always had six pencils with an electric sharpener that he would sharpen at the beginning of each session. His work sessions were very strict — he worked from 10 until 12 every day and then again from 3 until 5 every day. And that was it. Even if there was nothing to write he would still, as he would say, "put his bottom on the chair."

Next up for the Backseat Book Club: In November, we'll read Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea about a very special fifth-grade teacher and the lives he changed.

Need Some More Reading Recommendations?

NPR's Backseat Book Club

The complete list: what npr's backseat book club has read so far.

100 Best Books

The ultimate backseat bookshelf: 100 must-reads for kids 9-14, correction nov. 14, 2013.

Previous audio and Web versions of this story incorrectly referred to Roald Dahl as being English. Dahl was Welsh.

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• / General Fiction

When plotting a murder (figuratively speaking), the mystery writer has at hand any number of M.O.'s including such tried and true conventions as the locked room, the unbreakable alibi, the double bluff, the mistaken identity, and many others. Indeed,...

THEY'VE SEEN THE FUTURE -- AND IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.... What's going to happen when the world ends? Here are 14 humorous, poignant, eerie, and altogether too possible views of what things will be like when: � Walking for pleasure and exercise b...

“Marvelous things will start happening to you...and you will never be miserable again in your life.” Were the green, glowing crystals the little man gave James really magic? Maybe, but it was magic lost to James when he tripped and spilled the...

FIVE CHILDREN -- AND ONLY FIVE -- WERE GOING TO BE ALLOWED INTO MR. WILLY WONKA'S CHOCOLATE FACTORY...THE FACTORY WHERE THE WORLD'S MOST WONDERFUL CANDY WAS MADE. AUGUSTUS GLOOP -- A fat pig of a boy who would eat anything he could get his hands an...

With a finger like this, you can really make a point! The Greggs are hunters who will shoot anything in the woods for fun. The little girl who lives next door hates it. She tries to talk them out of it, but they only laugh at her -- so she turns h...

Nobody outfoxes Fantastic Mr. Fox! Someone's been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief -- it's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him, but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny...

Now that he's won the chocolate factory, what's next for Charlie? Last seen flying through the sky in a giant elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket's back for another adventure. When the giant elevator picks up speed, Charl...

"""Dahl is too good a storyteller to become predictable."" —The Daily Telegraph In Switch Bitch four tales of seduction and suspense are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl. Topping and tailing this collection a...

The hilarious adventures of Danny and the best dad a boy ever had. "You will learn as you get older, just as I learned that autumn, that no father is perfect. Grown-ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets, but all of them have tw...

IN THE MUDDIEST RIVER IN AFRICA... ...lives a mean, nasty, Enormous Crocodile. All the jungle animals, from Humpy-Rumpy the Hippopotamus to Muggle-Wump the Monkey to the Roly-Poly Bird, think he is filthy, horrible and fiendish. And today he's even ...

This title covers stories including: "Taste", "Lamb to Slaughter", "Man from the South", "Dip in the Pool", "Skin", "Neck", "Nunc Dimittis", "The Landlady", "William and Mary", "The Way up to Heaven", "Parsons Pleasures", "Mrs Bixby and the Colonel C...

How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the smelliest, nastiest, ugliest people in the world. They hate everything -- except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monke...

Roald Dahl can stand on your head, twist you in knots, tie up your hands and leave you gasping for more. In this, his latest selection of short stories the surprises are as wicked and witty as ever. Taken from "Someone Like You", "Kiss Kiss" and "The...

Meet Oswald Hendryks Cornelius, Roald Dahl's most disgraceful and extraordinary character . . . Aside from being thoroughly debauched, strikingly attractive and astonishingly wealthy, Uncle Oswald was the greatest bounder, bon vivant and fornica...

A taste of her own medicine George is alone in the house with Grandma. The most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her grouchiness. A special grandma medicine, a remedy for e...

From Jack in the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears to Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, wicked beasts, brazen crooks and a ghastly giant star in these hilarious nursery rhymes with Bite, now brilliantly adapted for listening p...

Is it really possible to invent a machine that does the job of a writer? What is it about the landlady's house that makes it so hard for her guests to leave? Does Sir Basil Turton value most his wife or one of his priceless sculptures? These compelli...

Seven superb short stories from the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG! The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a Netflix Original film!Meet the boy who can talk to animals and the man who can see with his eyes clo...

Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or a...

Dahl's satirical reworkings of six classic fairy tales reveal the true stories of "Cinderella," "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Goldilocks," "Snow White," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "The Three Little Pigs"...

This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches. Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifyi...

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. An account of how the author came to be a writer. Selections from his writer's notebook augment stories juxtaposing fantasy and truth, peopled with outrageous and courageous characters....

Where did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories? From his own life, of course! As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and...

Who better to investigate the literary spirit world than that supreme connoisseur of the unexpected, Roald Dahl? Of the many permutations of the macabre or bizarre, Dahl was always especially fascinated by the classic ghost story. As he realtes in...

When Billy joins the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company, he’s in for the time of his life! What else could a Giraffe with an extending neck, a Pelican with a bucket-sized beak, a dancing Monkey, and Billy, a boy with a dream, be but The Ladderle...

Take a pinch of unease. Stir it into a large dollop of the macabre, add a generous helping of dark and stylish wit, garnish with the bizarre and what do you have? Roald Dahl at his brilliant, hypnotizing best, cooking up some of the most unusual stor...

For hundreds of kids "The Trunchbull" is pure terror -- for Matilda, she's a sitting duck. Who put superglue in Dad's hat? Was it really a ghost that made Mom tear out of the house? Only sweet, gentle Matilda knows. Because she's the one playing a...

A collection of irreverant rhymes featuring characters from fairy tales, fables and nursery rhymes - as you''ve never seen them before! From the tortoise and the hare and Hansel and Gretel to Ali Baba and Aladdin, these traditional stories will never...

An ancient spell, 140 tortoises, and a little bit of magic... Mr. Hoppy is in love with his neighbor, Mrs. Silver, but she is in love with , someone else -- Alfie, her pet tortoise. With all her attention focused on Alfie, Mrs. Silver doesn't eve...

If Stephen King could write with murderous concision, he might have come up with "The Landlady," the story of a boarding house with an oddly talented proprietress and a small but permanent clientele. If Clive Barker had a sense of humor, he might ha...

'My name is Eel, Robert Eel. I am the new rotsap of Nibbleswicke. Dog help me!' The Reverend Lee is suffering from a rare and acutely embarrassing condition: Back-to-Front Dyslexia. It affects only his speech, and he doesn't realize he's doing it, b...

"Roald Dahl is one of the few writers I know whose work can accurately be described as addictive." -- Irish Times   The sweet scents of rural life infuse this beautifully crafted collection of Roald Dahl’s country stories, but there is alw...

Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 3-9 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. Box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 6-20 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers...

Little Billy strays into the forest, where he meets the Minpins?tiny people who live within the trees. The Minpins tell Billy about The Gruncher, who preys on them. So Billy embarks on a mission to rid the Minpins of their foe once and for all, and s...

These five short stories offer a selection of Dahl's adult writing. "Parson's Pleasure" is a country tale, "A Piece of Cake", a wartime reminiscence, "Lamb to the Slaughter" a story of vengeful murder, and the remaining two, set in London, are on fav...

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Offers simple, step-by-step recipes for dishes mentioned in Roald Dahl's works, including such delicacies as "Bruce Bogtrotter's Sensational Chocolate Cake" and "Stinkbug Eggs....

A wonderful collection of works from the popular author of The BFG, includes portions of his autobiography, notes written prior to the publication of Esio Trot, and an assortment of unpublished work, such as Christmas cards, personal ...

During World War II, a British plowman discovered a hoard of Roman silver while plowing a field in the Suffolk countryside. Unaware of the treasure's value, he was cheated out of the fortune that should have been his by the man who hired him. The 34 ...

How would you get rid of a murder weapon without causing suspicion? Where would you hide a diamond where no one else would think of looking? What if you found out that the tattoo on your back was worth over a million dollars? You will discover that j...

Presents humorous retellings of six well-known fairy tales featuring surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after, and a collection of humorous poems about amazing or nasty creatures....

Roald Dahl's inimitable style and humor shine in this collection of poems about mischievous and mysterious animals. From Stingaling the scorpion to Crocky-Wock the crocodile, Dahl's animals are nothing short of ridiculous. A clever pig with an unment...

Did you know that Roald Dahl loved chocolate, but never ate spaghetti? Or that he was a terrible speller? Or that he had four sisters? D Is for Dahl is an A to Z collection of facts, trivia, and zany details that bring Roald Dahl and his memorable ch...

Roald Dahl is best remembered as the author of many well-loved children’s stories. But he was also the creator of some astonishingly imaginative, outrageous, and wonderfully disgusting verses. From oozing grobes to slimy slugs, this extraordinar...

The Gless Ee. Ye can play hunners o tricks wi a gless ee because ye can tak it oot and pap it back in again ony time ye like. Ye can bet yer life Mrs Eejit kent aw the tricks. Wan mornin she took oot her gless ee and drapped it intae Mr Eejit's joog ...

Published in 1943 and long unavailable, Dark Horse Books is proud to present this landmark book from the author of such beloved tales as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda. Digitally restored, this remarkable pre...

This new rebrand of MORE ABOUT BOY is a favourite book containing a wealth of new photos, facts and writings about Roald Dahl and his childhood, together with the original text and illustrations from his much-loved memoir. With lots of little-known d...

Doon in the glen there wis three ferms. The men that had these ferms were aboot as scunnersome and grippy as ony men ye could meet. They were cried Fermer Boggin, Fermer Boonce and Fermer Beek. On a brae above the glen steyed Mr Tod, Mrs Tod and the ...

SUPERB STORIES ... Daring deeds ... fantastic adventures -- Going Solo, the second part of Roald Dahl's autobiography, creates a world as bizarre and unnerving as any you will find in his fiction....

• / Dark Fantasy

Every time Mr Fox steals a chicken from the farm, Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean grow wild with rage! They're the nastiest crooks in the valley, and they've concocted a cunning plan to dig him out of his hole once and for all. But it never occurs to ...

Is it really possible to invent a machine that does the job of a writer? What is it about a landlady's house that makes it so hard for her guests to leave? Does Sir Basil Turton value most his wife or one of his priceless sculptures? Here are thirtee...

Roald Dahl's personal stories together in one edition! Where did Roald Dahl get all of his wonderful ideas for stories? From his own life, of course! Boy includes tales of sweetshops and chocolate, mean old ladies, and the Great Mouse Plot. And th...

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket loves chocolate. And Mr. Willy Wonka, the most wondrous inventor in the world, is opening the gates of his amazing chocolate factory. Charlie just needs one golden ticket, and Mr. Wonka's delicious...

Bursting with fantabulous fun, this sticker activity book includes story extracts from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "James and the Giant Peach", and "Fantastic Mr. Fox"! In this fantabulous sticker book, three Roald Dahl stories--Charlie a...

"Dahl is too good a storyteller to become predictable."  -- The Daily Telegraph “Bitch” is the last story in Switch Bitch, a collection of four tales of seduction and suspense told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl...

Secrets and surprises from Roald Dahl!Feast your eyes on a secret! Between these covers is a long-lost chapter -- and the original ending -- from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other delicious never-before-seen tidbits from Mr. Wonka's factory...

• / Action Adventure

Roald Dahl sometimes shared a tonal kinship with Ogden Nash, and he could demonstrate a verbal inventiveness nearly Seussian His] stories work better in audio than in print. "The New York Times" THE TWITS How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. ...

From Aardvark to Zipfizzing, this is THE alphabetical guide to everything you ever needed to know - and a lot that you didn't - about Britain's best-loved, bestselling children's writer, packed with fascinating and completely unnecessary facts about ...

This doodle book is the perfect way for every young Roald Dahl fan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This 128-page doodle book includes activities based many of Roald Dahl’s most famous stories, including C...

This fascinating full-colour book celebrates the 50th birthday of that best-loved story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Prizewinning journalist Lucy Mangan explores the wide-ranging influence that , Charlie Bucket, Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loomp...

Celebrate 50 Years of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with this complete Wonka boxed set. It's the perfect gift for longtime Charlie fans and newcomers alike! The complete story of Roald Dahl’s most beloved characters and chocolate creations i...

Pranks, tricks, mischief, and more in this ideal companion book to Roald Dahl's beloved novels! Professional tricksters put your cunning to the test. Inside this wicked little book you'll find step-by-step instructions for making mischief and may...

Based on Roald Dahl's The BFG, this journal is the perfect place for imaginative children to record all their dreams and ideas. The pages of this journal feature Quentin Blake's art from the original story, and are full of fun writing and drawing pro...

The BFG has charmed both children and parents since it was published over 30 years ago. Now, a new generation of readers can continue the adventures of Sophie and the BFG in this interactive doodle and activity book. Featuring Quentin Blake's famous ...

Roald Dahl's The Witches has filled readers of all ages with both terror and delight since it was first published. This sticker and activity book includes excerpts from the book along with drawing and coloring activities, puzzles, games, and plenty o...

PERFECT for fans of Roald Dahl. Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . 'Cruelty has a human heart . . .' Even when we m...

THE PERFECT GIFT for fans of Roald Dahl. Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . 'The cruelest lies are often told in silence ....

PERFECT for fans of Roald Dahl. Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . We fall not in love but in lust . . . Lust, in all i...

PERFECT for fans of Roald Dahl. Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . 'There is a pleasure sure in being mad, which none but ...

An interactive introduction and fresh new look at Roald Dahl's world and characters! A brilliant extension to Dahl's wonderful stories, this book gives fascinating insights into the characters and events from Roald Dahl's writing in a humorous, ex...

PERFECT for fans of Roald Dahl.Think you know Dahl? Think again. Discover a collection of deliciously dark ghost stories for adults, picked by Dahl himself . . . Do you enjoy being scared? Featuring fourteen classic spine-chilling stories chosen by R...

Add your own magic to the story of Matilda with this sticker activity book based on Roald Dahl's beloved classic tale! Readers of all ages have loved Roald Dahl's Matilda since it was first published in 1988. Matilda -- a quietly brilliant fi...

Explore the magic and brilliance of Matilda in this exciting interactive notebook based on Roald Dahl's classic story! In Roald Dahl's classic story, Matilda is a brilliant and sensitive five-year-old girl who uses magic and wit to stand up t...

PERFECT for fans of Roald Dahl.Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults . . . How underhand could you be to get what you want? In these ten ta...

One of Dahl's beloved stories available for the first time in novel format and newly illustrated by Quentin Blake!Billy's mum says he must never go out through the garden gate and explore the dark forest beyond. So, one day, he does exactly that! The...

Please Read Notes: Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edi...

___________ The original, magical story with a brand new cover from Quentin Blake! October 2018 marked 30 years since Matilda was published! This brand new jacket comes with a never-before-seen illustration of Matilda as the Chief Execu...

A darkly funny gift book based on Roald Dahl's beloved story The Enormous Crocodile, featuring art by Quentin Blake. The Enormous Crocodile has been employing "secret plans and clever tricks" for years, hoping to one day score his favo...

Am I a phenomenon? It is quite possible that you are. Reimagine Dahl's beloved classic in this gorgeous, hand-lettered gift book perfect for Matilda fans of all ages! Featuring the best and brightest lines from Roald Dahl's magical story, ...

Matilda is the world's most famous bookworm, no thanks to her ghastly parents. Her father thinks she's a little scab. Her mother spends all afternoon playing bingo. And her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull? She's the worst of all. She's a big bully, who...

Reimagine Dahl's beloved classic in this gorgeous, hand-lettered gift book perfect for The Witches fans of all ages! Featuring the best and brightest lines from Roald Dahl's magical story, this book displays the iconic quotes in creepy, whims...

• / Graphic Novel

Inspired by Roald Dahl''s prank-filled story of beards and balloons, The Twits, we present the ultimate guide to Twit trickery, stuffed with fun activities, stories, jokes and more! ''Mr Twit was plotting away like mad. He was trying to th...

A hilarious Roald Dahl story that celebrates staying young at heart, perfect for graduation and all of life's special moments!What would happen if you never had to grow up? You never had to become a grown-up with all of the not-fun things that come w...

Learn your colors with Roald Dahl, the World's No. 1 Storyteller!This deluxe board book is the perfect way to learn about colors. Featuring beloved art created by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl's classic books, this book is perfect for libraries, the ...

Learn your opposites with Roald Dahl, the World's No. 1 Storyteller!This deluxe board book is the perfect way to learn about opposites. Featuring beloved art created by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl's classic books, this book is perfect for libraries...

Learn your numbers with Roald Dahl, the World’s No. 1 Storyteller! This deluxe board book is the perfect way to learn about numbers. Featuring beloved art created by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl’s classic books, this is perfect for librarie...

Learn the alphabet with Roald Dahl, the World’s No. 1 Storyteller! This deluxe board book is the perfect way to learn the alphabet. Featuring beloved art created by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl’s classic books, this is perfect for libraries...

Now a musical!  Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a menacing, kid-hating headmistress. When Matilda is attacked ...

Learn your shapes with Roald Dahl, the World's No. 1 Storyteller!From triangles to circle, this board book is a great way to teach our littlest readers shapes. With art by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl's classic books, this book is perfect for libari...

Learn some Dahl-icious words with Roald Dahl, the World's No. 1 Storyteller!This deluxe board book is the perfect way to learn some splendiferous new words. Featuring beloved art created by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl's classic books, this book is ...

Roar and oink your animal sounds with Roald Dahl!From monkeys to lions, this board book is a great way to teach our littlest readers the silly sounds that animals make. With art by Quentin Blake from Roald Dahl's classic books, this book is perfect f...

A #1 New York Times Bestseller!Based on the major motion picture -- an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor -- Wonka introduces readers to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determi...

Wondering what happened to the other children who toured the chocolate factory with Charlie? Find out in this reader featuring a mini story perfect for Dahl fans.While Charlie went on to win the chocolate factory, Augustus, Violet, Veruca, and Mike w...

Curious about the connections between Matilda and Miss Agatha Trunchbull? Discover more in this reader featuring a mini story perfect for Dahl fans!Matilda Wormwood had always been an extraordinary girl: smart, kind, courageous, and ready to take on ...

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Roald Dahl's 11 best — and worst — children's books, ranked

by Constance Grady , Tanya Pai , Caroline Framke , and Aja Romano

What would children’s literature be without the singular voice of Roald Dahl? Over the course of his long career, the British novelist wrote more than 30 works populated with clever children and frequently monstrous adults, sprinkled with made-up words, and shot through with sly, surprisingly dark humor. His stories were set in richly imagined worlds, taking place everywhere from the bowels of a mysterious chocolate factory to the heart of an impossibly huge peach — even outer space.

Troubling personal politics aside, Dahl is responsible for some of children’s literature’s most memorable characters, from sadistic candymaker Willy Wonka to telekinetic Matilda to the sly, resourceful Fantastic Mr. Fox — many of whom have now been immortalized onscreen as well as on the page.

And today is Dahl’s hundredth birthday. In honor of the occasion, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to create a definitive ranking of Dahl’s children’s books. Read on to find out where each one ended up.

Please note that we only considered full-length works, not short stories, and that these rankings are immutable and 100 percent accurate.

11) George’s Marvelous Medicine (1981)

George's Marvelous Medicine

George’s grandmother has a puckered mouth and teeth stained pale brown. She forces her 8-year-old grandson to make her endless cups of tea and eat cabbage riddled with bugs. She’s a thoroughly unpleasant woman. So George decides to shake her up; he makes her a dose of medicine.

Gleefully he mixes together curry powder and shampoo and antifreeze and other substances he finds lying around the house — but when he feeds it to his grandmother, it doesn’t have quite the effect he had in mind. It makes her grow, becoming unimaginably large. Which, George’s father proclaims, means George has effectively solved world hunger!

Wait — huh ?

Yeah, that solving-world-hunger angle comes out of nowhere at the end, as does the rest of the story’s not-exactly-resolution. Add to that the sheer bitterness of the premise, and you have one of Dahl’s most uneven works. — Constance Grady

10) Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)

Speaking of bitterness, there was no shortage of it on display in the sequel to Dahl’s most famous and most-beloved book. Moving the action as far away from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory as possible, Dahl puts his heroes, Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka, in a great glass elevator for what amounts to an epic road (space) trip with Charlie’s whole family, complete with all the long-suffering “are we there yet?” moments such a description implies.

But Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator also contains scathing, largely clichéd diatribes against US politics, including a weirdly infantilized look at the US president. Charlie’s two loving grandmothers from the previous book are abruptly transformed at the beginning of this one into unbearable, demonized examples of every shallow human trait Dahl can think to burden them with. By the time the Vermicious Knids come along, you’re rooting for the aliens to win and wishing Charlie were still mooning by the chocolate river. What was Dahl thinking? — Aja Romano

9) Revolting Rhymes (1982)

Revolting Rhymes .

A collection of rhyming poems, Revolting Rhymes isn’t a “typical” Dahl book. But the author’s singsong retellings of six famous fairy tales — with all the grotesque details Disney left out — provide an apt showcase for his twisted sense of humor. This makes sense, since Dahl’s stories already borrow so much from fairy-tale tropes; almost all of his children’s stories involve neglected kids, villainous hags, and/or impossibly magical creatures.

Still: Dahl takes fairy tales to another level in Revolting Rhymes , creating a bloodbath out of Cinderella’s romance, making Little Red Riding Hood a stone-cold killer, and saddling Snow White with seven gambling-addict dwarfs. As with all of Dahl’s best works, Revolting Rhymes is incredibly strange and even disturbing, but often a whole lot of fun. —Caroline Framke

8) The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977)

The Henry Sugar anthology is an odd one to consume in the middle of a Roald Dahl binge, but it’s always been one of my favorites. It is, in a word, variable: There are minor short stories, like the forgettable one with the giant tortoise (no, not Esio Trot , the other one), and autobiographical accounts of Dahl’s life, including how his time as a fighter pilot in World War II led him to start writing.

But the crown jewel of the book is the title story: the tale of Henry Sugar, a selfish gambler who teaches himself to see through solid objects in order to cheat at cards and eventually reforms himself into a secular saint. It has all the sweetness and heart of the best of Dahl’s full-length novels, but it’s tinged with unmistakable melancholy. — Constance Grady

7) Fantastic Mr. Fox (1968)

Dahl took a short break from sympathizing with humans in Fantastic Mr. Fox, the only book on this list told from the perspective of a (particularly clever) group of animals. But the titular Mr. Fox is exactly the kind of hero Dahl loves; namely, he’s always the smartest person fox in the room. It’s a thin volume, but the conflict between the Fox family and three greedy farmers is rich in detail, layered with tidbits covering everything from Farmer Bean’s addiction to alcoholic cider to the elaborate dinner party courses Mrs. Fox prepares with the spoils that her fantastic husband triumphantly steals from beneath the dumb farmers’ noses. —Caroline Framke

6) The Witches (1983)

The Witches .

The Witches is a pitch-black horror story about a boy who finds himself smack dab in the middle of an international conference of evil women. Luckily, he has a shrewd and savvy grandmother who has made him as witch-proof as any boy can be.

With their elegant white gloves and their long, pointed heels masking hideous bodies, Dahl’s witches lurk in ordinary society, waiting to prey on innocent children. The Witches doesn’t flirt with outright misogyny so much as skywrite “women aren’t what they seem!” But Dahl’s witches are compelling, fascinating, and powerful — and ultimately it’s their power that turns a straightforward cautionary tale thoroughly on its head, resulting in one of his most memorable books. This fable of mice and (wo)men manages to be warm, whimsical, and spine-tingling all at once; I reread it every Halloween and find myself deliciously creeped out every time. — Aja Romano

5) Danny, Champion of the World (1975)

Dahl is fantastic at describing whimsical settings, but most of them aren’t places you’d actually want to live in: Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory would doubtless maim you, in Mr. Fox’s den you’d be attacked by murderous farmers, and the BFG’s native land is home to scores of bigger, less friendly giants.

No, if you made me choose a Dahl book to live in, it would be Danny . I want to hang out in that cozy caravan Danny shares with his father as it’s gently pelted by an apple tree, and eat roast pheasant (the food of kings, according to Danny’s father). I want to learn top-secret poaching tips and plump raisins in water to make pheasant bait. Dahl never wrote another world that made you want to crawl inside the pages and curl up there quite as much. — Constance Grady

4) James and the Giant Peach (1961)

For a book that opens on a little boy struggling under the tyrannical rule of his abusive aunts — a straight-up Dickensian dilemma — James and the Giant Peach tells an incredibly lovely story. It has an overlying sense of wonder, as conveyed through the mysterious creatures that first grow the titular peach to mammoth size, the jolly centipede causing constant mischief with his 100 (or maybe just 42) shoes, and the short-fused giants that James and his magical new insect friends meet when their swollen stone fruit floats up into the sky. But the engine that keeps this book moving — and the reason it continues to resonate so deeply — isn’t the giant peach but James’s giant heart. —Caroline Framke

3) Matilda (1988)

If you were a fan of Dahl as a youngster, chances are you were a bookish kid with an active imagination. And what more glorious fantasy existed for all of us bookish, imaginative kids than the idea that our minds could make miraculous things happen, even in the world beyond our heads?

Matilda’s telekinesis might seem of a piece with today’s never-ending stream of superhero movies, but Dahl’s 1988 novel extols the virtues of brain power over superpowers. Matilda is a thrilling story of intelligence and ingenuity triumphing over TV-dulled ignorance, a love song to classic novels, and an utterly satisfying tale of a child serving a bit of justice to grown-ups for the indignities both small and large that are part and parcel of being a kid. Plus, despite the unfortunate fate of poor Bruce Bogtrotter, it always leaves me with a craving for chocolate cake. —Tanya Pai

2) The BFG (1982)

Dahl’s prose has a rhythm all its own, with peculiar turns of phrase and a penchant for streaking off into rhyming verse bumping up against each other to create something wholly unique. And The BFG ‘s story of a little orphan girl and the big friendly giant she befriends may be Dahl’s finest example of his gift for wordplay. The pages are packed with nonsense terms that nevertheless evoke exactly what they intend to (you know just what you’re getting with snozzcumbers); and the passage where the BFG explains to Sophie what humans from each country taste like is a wit-filled delight.

And while there are some truly horrific aspects to the story — orphans getting locked in the cellar with rats; giants who crunch up humans like popcorn — there’s plenty of wonder as well. The idea that the stars have a silvery music all their own, and that our dreams come not from the workings of our unconscious minds but via the whims of a gentle giant from a faraway land, is as captivating and wrenchingly beautiful as an adult as it was in childhood. —Tanya Pai

1) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

There’s so much wonderful weirdness lurking in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , a heartwarming story of a poor boy whose goodness earns him the coveted golden ticket that allows him to meet Willy Wonka, the plum-and-green-clad chocolatier. His journey to Wonka’s factory is nothing short of a dream. There’s so much to see: Everlasting Gobstoppers! Snozzberries! Chocolate mixing via waterfall! And you get to eat nothing but sweets all day long! Sure, the entire factory definitely needs a visit from DEFRA , but what mysterious chocolate factory run by a sociopathic maniacal supergenius doesn’t ?

Charlie ultimately wins a fantasy apprenticeship with the world’s greatest candymaker, while the other children on his factory tour, all greedy and spoiled, learn unpleasant karmic lessons about the dangers of selfishness. It’s a lovely, chocolate-powered morality play — until you realize Wonka is housing a slave nation of Ewoks turned sweatshop workers.

Then there’s the decimating poverty and literal starvation that Charlie and his family endure, the four grandparents who’ve all shared the same bed without leaving it for 20 years, and the truly creeptastic ends that each of Charlie’s competitors meet at the hands of the unperturbed Wonka. Oh, and have I mentioned all the pederastic vibes and the overt BDSM overtones? (Remember the actual whips used for whipping cream?)

Despite — and because of — all this bizarreness, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remains one of the most influential children’s books ever written. Without Charlie , we’d have no Harry Potter , no Coraline . Its caricatures of spoiled kids and narcissistic parents are unerring and timeless; its satirical takes on human nature are pointed and merciless. Veruca Salt, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teavee, and Violet Beauregarde may be revolting children, but there’s a part of all of us that would be right there beside them, reaching for that extra-special chewing gum. — Aja Romano

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About Roald Dahl

(1916-1990), british.

Quick Facts

Roald Dahl was an author, an ace fighter pilot, a spy, a medical inventor, and a chocolate historian. He is best known for his beloved children’s books such as ‘ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ,’ ‘ Matilda ,’ ‘ The BFG ,’ and ‘ James and the Giant Peach .’

• Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, on 13 September 1916.
• His parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg were Norwegian.
• Dahl went to several boarding schools including St Peter’s, Weston-super-Mare, and Repton.
• In 1953, Dahl married Patricia Neal, an American actress with whom he had five children.
• Roald Dahl passed away on 23rd November 1990 at the age of 74.

Interesting Facts

• Roald Dahl was named after Roald Amundson, a Norwegian who was the first man to reach the South Pole.
• During his time at Repton, Dahl and other pupils were invited to try out chocolate bars – which eventually became the inspiration for ‘ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .’
• Roald Dahl enlisted in the Royal Air Force at 23 years old.
• Dahl invented the Wade-Dahl-Till valve to alleviate head injuries in 1960.
• Dahl took part in the Battle of Athens in World War II and supplied intelligence to MI6.

Famous Books by Roald Dahl

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ – Published in 1964, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’  is one of Roald Dahl’s most famous novels. The book follows the story of a poor boy who wins the golden ticket to the factory of the famous chocolatier, Willy Wonka. Charlie, being a good-natured young boy wins a fantasy apprenticeship with the world’s greatest chocolatier. The rest of his peers, however, are not as lucky. Their selfishness and greed lead them down the wrong paths at the factory, and they meet sticky ends.

‘ Matilda ‘  – ‘ Matilda ‘ was the last long children’s book written by Roald Dahl in 1988. The story revolves around a 5-year-old girl with a genius intellect. Matilda also has magical powers. That is the ability to move objects with her mind. However, Matilda faces some big bullies in her life and attempts to overcome the problems they pose with her wit and talent. She meets a wonderful teacher along the way and learns important life lessons.

‘ The BFG’  – Published in 1982,  ‘The BFG ‘ serves as a testament to Roald Dahl’s quirky writing style and imaginative wordplay. The title of the novel stands for the big friendly giant that a young orphan girl meets and befriends. The young girl learns about the fascinating aspects of the universe from the BFG, including the origin of human dreams and the music that the stars in the sky above her produce.

‘James and the Giant Peach’  – ‘ James and the Giant Peach ‘ is one of the first children’s novels written by Roald Dahl. In this novel, the protagonist of the novel is a young boy named James who is terrorized day in and day out by his abusive aunts. James does not have a single friend until he meets a special insect – the Old Green Grasshopper. James, the Old Green Grasshopper, and the rest of his insect friends go aboard a giant, magical peach into the great unknown for a magical adventure.

Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales to Norwegian parents Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Dahl lost his sister Astri to appendicitis when he was just three years old. In the same year, his father passed away from pneumonia.

Dahl’s mother decided to bring him up in Wales and his earliest education was in English public schools. As a result, Dahl attended The Cathedral School at Llandaff then transferred to St Peter’s, a British boarding school in Weston-super-Mare. Dahl did not have a pleasant time in this boarding school. He was extremely homesick and wrote to his mother very often.

At the age of 13, Dahl attended Repton School in Derbyshire, England. Dahl disliked his time at Repton because of the hazing, cruelty, and status domination that prevailed there. Young boys at the school were subjected to corporal punishment and terrible beatings by teachers and older boys.

Dahl spent his summers in Oslo, Norway with his grandparents, where he made several happy memories.

Later Life and Death

After school, Dahl went on an expedition to Newfoundland before joining Shell Petroleum Company in 1934. Shell Oil Company assigned him to “wonderful faraway places” he wanted, such as Mombasa, Kenya, and then Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (Tanzania, Africa).

In 1939, Dahl enlisted as a member of the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman. He became a pilot officer within six months and was assigned to a squadron. However, his aircraft crashed on a mission in Alexandria and he sustained several serious injuries including a fractured skull, a smashed nose, and temporary blindness. On 28 April 1941, Dahl took part in the Battle of Athens, and within a month, he was evacuated to Egypt.

Dahl tried to recover his health enough to become an instructor and took a job as an assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington DC. Dahl met several people during his time at the embassy, including Lord Halifax and British novelist CS Forester.

During the war, Dahl worked as a spy – supplying intelligence to Stephenson and his organization, which was a part of MI6. He also supplied intelligence from Washington to Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

After the war, Roald Dahl married American actress Patricia Neal in 1953 with whom he had five children. Two of his children died of complications and diseases. Dahl and Neal divorced in 1983 when Dahl married Felicity d’Abreu Crosland.

During the later stages of his life, Dahl suffered from a cancer of the blood known as myelodysplastic syndrome. Cancer took his life on 23rd November 1990 where he was buried in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire at the age of 74. Dahl has left behind a huge legacy, of which the 1996 Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize are just the tip of the iceberg.

Literary Career

Roald Dahl was regarded as “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century” by  The Times . His literary career began with his first story ever, ‘ A Piece of Cake. ‘ The story was an account of his wartime adventures published in 1942 by the  Saturday Evening Post  under the title ‘ Shot Down Over Libya .’

His first children’s book,  ‘The Gremlins ,’ came out in 1943, but it was not a success. He had written the story for Walt Disney, to be turned into a movie. Dahl then began writing dark and macabre adult short stories which appeared in several American magazines such as  Harper’s, Playboy, The New Yorker , and so on. His short stories were extremely popular and he wrote more than 60 of them. They were anthologized in numerous short story collections including ‘ Skin ‘ , ‘Someone Like You ,’ and ‘ Tales of the Unexpected .’ As a short story writer, Dahl has come to be known as a “teller of the unexpected.’

Some of his most famous adult stories include ‘ The Smoker’  which was turned into an episode of ‘ Alfred Hitchcock Presents’  in 1985 as well as ‘ Four Rooms’  by Quentin Tarantino in 1995. Another popular short story was ‘ The Landlady .’ Dahl also wrote several novels for adults including ‘ My Uncle Oswald’, ‘Memories with Food at Gipsy House,’  and ‘ Esio Trot .’ He has also written an autobiography called ‘Boy: Tales of Childhood ,’ which recollects his adventures as a mischievous child.

Roald Dahl is most famous for his children’s fiction. These are whimsical fantasy stories written from the point of view of a child. As a children’s writer, some of the most famous of Dahl’s books include  ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ ‘Matilda,’ ‘The BFG,’ ‘The Witches,’ ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox,’ ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine,’ ‘Danny, Champion of the World ‘, and  ‘James and the Giant Peach.’

The writer for children must be a jokey sort of a fellow. He must like simple tricks and jokes and riddles and other childish things. He must be … inventive. He must have a really first-class plot.

Literary Influences

Roald Dahl is influenced by his favorite authors including Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Frederick Marryat, and William Makepeace Thackeray.

Dahl was also highly influenced by Lewis Carroll’s ‘ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ‘ and Jonas Lie’s ‘ Trolls .’ He was also inspired by his mother’s Norwegian stories and folk tales, as well as her magnetic storytelling.

Literature by Roald Dahl

Explore literature by Roald Dahl below, created by the team at Book Analysis.

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Big Sometimes Friendly Giant

Many of Roald Dahl’s book covers today come stamped with an official-looking logo proclaiming him “The World’s No. 1 Storyteller.” The declaration is, like Dahl’s fiction itself, simultaneously thrilling and absurd and puzzling and oddly disturbing. How, one has to wonder, was the ranking determined? Was there some kind of single-elimination global storytelling showdown, in which the creator of Willy Wonka, presumably as an eighth-seeded underdog, managed to out-yarn a bracket of, say, Jack London, Salman Rushdie, Isak Dinesen, Victor Hugo, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, and—in what must have been a squeaker of a final—the mighty Dickens? And even if we do accept that result, isn’t the title somehow slightly patronizing? After all, we don’t celebrate Faulkner or Conrad or Shakespeare primarily as “storytellers.” It would be like calling a master chef “The World’s No. 1 Pan-Fryer”—a great compliment, but also one that immediately raises questions about his ability to bake, braise, roast, grill, stew, poach, and flambé.

Dahl was, indeed, a great storyteller: Anyone who doubts that can pull aside a random child on the street and start reading her James and the Giant Peach or Fantastic Mr. Fox. If an adult comes up to object, you can start reading him one of the short stories: maybe “Taste” (in which a dinner-party bet among wine connoisseurs spirals out of control) or “The Sound Machine” (in which a man can hear plants screaming). If a policeman intervenes, read him “Lamb to the Slaughter,” in which a woman kills her husband with a frozen lamb chop, then cooks and feeds it to the detectives who come to investigate. You could probably go on like that forever.

Dahl’s own favorite of his yarns was The BFG, a children’s book in which the eponymous hero, the Big Friendly Giant, walks around city streets at night blowing dreams through a long tube into kids’ bedroom windows. The giant keeps thousands of dreams stored in neatly labeled glass jars in his cave—with the good ones (what he calls “phizzwizards”) carefully segregated from the bad (“trogglehumpers”). “I IS ONLY AN EIGHT YEAR OLD LITTLE BOY,” runs one of the good dreams, “BUT I IS GROWING A SPLENDID BUSHY BEARD AND ALL THE OTHER BOYS IS JALOUS.” (The BFG is a self-taught writer: He learned to read from a borrowed copy of Nicholas Nickleby, whose author he identifies as “Dahl’s Chickens.”) One of the giant’s best dreams reads like a mission statement for Dahl’s career:

I HAS RITTEN A BOOK AND IT IS SO EXCITING NOBODY CAN PUT IT DOWN. AS SOON AS YOU HAS RED THE FIRST LINE YOU IS SO HOOKED ON IT YOU CANNOT STOP UNTIL THE LAST PAGE. IN ALL THE CITIES PEEPLE IS WALKING IN THE STREETS BUMPING INTO EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEIR FACES IS BURIED IN MY BOOK AND DENTISTS IS READING IT AND TRYING TO FILL TEETHS AT THE SAME TIME BUT NOBODY MINDS BECAUSE THEY IS ALL READING IT TOO IN THE DENTIST’S CHAIR.

The dream goes on like this: Drivers crash, pilots fly off course, and brain surgeons get distracted during surgery. It’s a paean to the primal magic of storytelling, but also an admission that that same magic—when it’s really strong—can start to feel sinister, like semi-benevolent mind control. Dahl inhabited this paradox more insistently than anyone. He wanted to seduce the entire world with narrative, regardless of the cost—to himself, to his family, to his publishers, to his reputation among children’s librarians (they hated him), and even to his own literary art.

It’s been twenty years since Roald Dahl died, and in honor of that morbid anniversary (and maybe, just possibly, in an effort to boost book sales) September has been named “Roald Dahl Month”—a holiday publishers are celebrating by issuing, among other books, the first-ever authorized Dahl biography, Donald Sturrock’s Storyteller. The book is, like Dahl, both lovable and annoying: The writing is often repetitious, the tone occasionally hagiographic, and it leaps around in chronology. But no matter. Dahl’s life story, it turns out, is less a normal human biography than a series of grisly and fabulous yarns that stretch back 30 or so generations. He was a direct descendant of the Scottish hero William Wallace, whose family got hunted out of Britain in 1305, after Wallace was hanged and beheaded. They ended up in Norway, where, centuries later, Dahl’s great-great-grandfather, a Norwegian pastor, escaped a church fire by stacking Bibles against a wall, climbing them, and throwing himself out a stained-glass window. Dahl’s father, as a child, had to have his arm amputated after a mishap with a drunk doctor. His uncle introduced himself to his aunt by rescuing her from a fire that killed 100 people.

Little Roald was born in 1916, in Wales, where his father had started a lucrative shipping business. (He was named “Roald” after a famous Norwegian explorer; the proper pronunciation, apparently, is like “RuPaul” without the P. ) Dahl had an idyllic childhood until the age of 3, when his older sister suddenly died and was followed, weeks later, by her heartbroken father. This was the beginning of a toxic tsunami of bad luck that would toss Dahl around for the rest of his life. When he was a boy, his nose was cut off in a car accident. (A doctor sewed it back on.) Then he was shipped off to boarding school in England, where he suffered all the traditional miseries. In World War II, he became one of the RAF’s most promising pilots—only to crash his plane, on his first official day of flying, in the Libyan Desert. As he lay there fighting for consciousness—his skull fractured, his spine wrenched out of place, his eyes swollen shut by burns, his poor reattached nose driven back into his face—his airplane’s machine guns, stoked by the heat, started shooting at him. (Dahl later mythologized this, telling people he’d been shot down.)

After he’d recuperated, Dahl was sent to fight in the notorious Battle of Athens, in which twelve or so RAF fighters took on roughly 150 German planes. He managed to survive, but was plagued by health problems forever after: chronic stomachaches, numb fingers, debilitating back pain, and finally cancer. Strangely, the one thing Dahl never had trouble with was his teeth—because he had all of them removed, preemptively, when he was 21. He thought they were more trouble than they were worth and tried to talk everyone he knew into having theirs pulled, too.

It’s hard to know whether to root for Dahl or for whatever hell-demon seemed so determined to bring him down.

When Dahl became a parent, the bad luck continued. In New York, his 4-month-old son was hit so hard by a taxi that his baby carriage flew 40 feet and slammed into a parked bus, shattering his skull. (He survived, barely.) Two years later, Dahl’s 7-year-old daughter died of a rare brain inflammation after getting measles. Then his 39-year-old wife, the actress Patricia Neal, had an aneurysm and fell into a coma for three weeks.

The man who emerged from this vortex of misfortune was excruciatingly complex—it’s sometimes hard to know, reading Storyteller, whether to root for Dahl or for whatever angry hell-demon seemed so determined to bring him down. He could, at times, be thoughtful and charming. Sturrock reports that Dahl once wrote his daughters’ names on the front lawn, at midnight, with weed killer, then told them in the morning that it was the work of fairies. He gave much of his time and massive literary profits to charity. And he responded to family crises with almost incredible courage and ingenuity—virtues he assigned, not incidentally, to all the heroes of his stories. After his son’s accident, when most parents would have been catatonic with worry, Dahl helped invent a new valve that kept spinal fluid from pressing on his son’s brain—a tool that turned out to be so effective and cheap (Dahl refused to profit from it) that it was eventually used in thousands of other patients. When his wife emerged from her coma, Dahl coached her through a grueling (some said cruel) rehabilitation regimen that went on to revolutionize modern stroke treatment.

But Dahl was also, much of the time, world-historically unpleasant. As a boy he wrapped his sister in pillows and shot BBs at her. As an adult he picked loud fights at dinner parties just to create a spectacle. He bullied editors, sold out friends, and insulted his children. Neal once recounted a charming moment from their first date: “I remember his taking a sip of wine and looking at me for a long moment through the candlelight. ‘I would rather be dead than fat,’ he said.” He was, in many ways, a stereotypical mid-century wealthy imperial Brit—a bullhorn of prejudice and entitlement whose gaffes could be almost touchingly clueless. “Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason,” he once said about Jews, while attempting to defend himself from accusations of anti-Semitism.

In his stories, however, Dahl’s mean streak got translated, somehow, into a kind of edgy warmth. He was a control freak of delight. Dahl, who’d been a mediocre student, came to believe that his desert plane crash had literally changed his brain in a way that made him start writing stories. Early in his career, he was determined to be the next Hemingway or Fitzgerald. He published twistedly addictive short stories in Collier’s, Harper’s, and The New Yorker. These caught the eye of legendary editor Maxwell Perkins, who wanted to publish Dahl’s first novel. But Perkins died, days later, with the manuscript on his desk, and Dahl’s career as an important novelist never took off. Finally, he gave up on it and channeled his big ambition into minor forms: short stories and, later, children’s books.

Thank God for that. Dahl’s adult fiction is fun but often formulaic. It sets up a premise, coldly follows the implied narrative logic, and nearly always ends with a twist. (OMG: The wife is missing her fingers!) There are no accidents or messiness or flights of inspiration.

Dahl’s kids’ stories, on the other hand, are full of characters who transcend narrative logic, e.g., the caterpillar in James and the Giant Peach, a loudmouth who’s always breaking into rude songs and forcing James to help him put on or take off his 42 boots. He does this not because it furthers the story, one senses, but because it’s funny, and because it’s exactly how this particular creature would act if he found himself flying around on a house-size piece of fruit. The keynote of Dahl’s children’s books is delight in wild invention—and delight, too, in the way that invention manages to braid the two opposed strands of his personality, the nasty and the charming, into something unique in the history of storytelling.

The endings of Dahl’s stories are almost always surprising, even when we know the twist is coming. This talent, it turns out, applied equally to the author’s own life. In a hospital, surrounded by family, Dahl reassured everyone, sweetly, that he wasn’t afraid of death. “It’s just that I will miss you all so much,” he said—the perfect final words. Then, as everyone sat quietly around him, a nurse pricked him with a needle, and he said his actual last words: “Ow, fuck!”

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Roald Dahl Day - lesson or easily adapted for an assembly

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Assembly

Last updated

21 July 2024

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Some quick facts about Roald Dahl and then some quizzes to check pupil’s knowledge. This could be used as a lesson and then lead on to a task linked to a Roald Dahl book or maybe inventing their own Roald Dahl character. Or it could be used as an assembly to teach pupils a bit about Roald Dahl and his amazing life, leading into some quizzing at the end to help engage pupils.

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