"And above all, watch with
glittering eyes the whole
world around you because
the greatest secrets are
always hidden in the most
unlikely places. Those who
don't believe in magic will
never find it."
— Roald Dahl
"And above all, watch with
glittering eyes the whole
world around you because
the greatest secrets are
always hidden in the most
unlikely places. Those who
don't believe in magic will
never find it."
— Roald Dahl
A Few More Interesting Facts
• Roald’s favorite color is yellow
• The language he created for
BFG is called “gobblefunk”
• Quentin Blake draws all of the
illustrations for Roald Dahl
Books
Dahl, Roald. (1984). boy. New York,
NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Dahl, Roald. (1988). matilda. New
York, NY: Viking Press.
Dahl, Roald. (1964). charlie and the
chocolate factory. New York, NY: Random
House.
Dahl, Roald. (2009). revolting rhymes. New
York, NY: Puffin Books.
Dahl, Roald. (2000). Skin and other
stories. NewYork, NY: Viking Press.
Dahl, Roald. (1977). the wonderful story
of henry sugar and six more. New
York, NY: Jonathan Cape Publishing
Dahl, Roald. (2009). revolting rhymes. New
York, NY: Puffin Books.
Dahl, Roald. (2000). Skin and other
stories. NewYork, NY: Viking Press.
Dahl, Roald. (1977). the wonderful story
of henry sugar and six more. New
York, NY: Jonathan Cape Publishing
A Little History
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Cardiff on
September 13, 1916. Although he grew up in
Whales, both of his parents were Norwegian.
Roald’s sister and father died when he was
very young, leaving him to be raised by his
widowed mother. She raised the ---children
that she and Roald’s father had together as
well as the two children that his Dad had with
his first wife (Dahl, 1984 ).
Although most of his stories are fantasy, Roald
draws on his own real life experiences
Not all of Roald’s book were for children, he
wrote adult fiction and non-fiction titles.
Many critics think that Roald’s stories were too
harsh and scary for children, some even
believe that his books are about injustice and
neglect and that they are really books for
adults.
“I never get any protests from
children, all you get are giggles and
mirth and squirms of delight. I know
what children like” (Dahl, 1984).
Other critics feel that his writing is too grisly.
He certainly had a some unusual tendencies,
after being injured as a pilot in WWI, he kept a
piece of the femur that was removed; he used
it as a paperweight (Shields, 2002).
Roald was schooled in various boarding
schools. He was always angry by the way the
headmaster’s and older children abused the
younger children. Many think his hatred for
authority showed in his stories (Shields,2002).
“ At anytime she likes, the matron could send
you down in your pyjamas and dressing-gown
to report to this merciless giant, and
whenever this happened you got caned on the
spot. The Matron knew this and she relished
the whole business” (Dahl, 1986).
Roald and his wife, Patricia Neal (a famous
movie actress), were no strangers to tragedy.
They had five children. Theo was tragically hit
by a taxi cab in New York City, he recovered
but it was along hard recovery. Their daughter
Olivia died from complications when she had
the measles. And Pat suffered a stroke while
pregnant with their fifth child.
Some think of The Gremlins as Roald’s first
children book, however he thinks that James
and the Giant Peach published in 1962
deserves that title.
Roald has published hundreds works of
literature including children’s books, adult
fiction and non-fiction books, short stories,
plays, children’s poetry, film scripts, and
television scripts.
In The End
• Roald died on November 23, 1990 of a blood
disease.
• In 1996, Buckinghamshire County Museum
opened the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery.
• In 2002 , the Oval Basil plaza in Cardiff Bay,
was Renamed “Roald Dahl Plass” in Roald’s
honor.
Here We Go…
Awards
• Edgar Allen Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America)
• Federation of Children’s Book Award (The BFG , The
Witches & Matilda)
• New York Times Outstanding Book Award (The
Witched)
• World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement
Award
• Smarties Award (Esio Trot)
• Nation’s Favorite Children’s Book- (Matilda)
Illustrations/Quotes
"Everything in this room is
edible. Even I'm edible.
But, that would be
called cannibalism. It
is looked down upon
in most societies."
— Roald Dahl (Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory)
"Matilda said, "Never do anything by halves if you want
to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog.
Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's
unbelievable..."
— Roald Dahl (Matilda)
"The witching hour, somebody had once
whispered to her, was a special moment in the
middle of the night when every child and every
grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the
dark things came out from hiding and had the
world all to themselves."
— Roald Dahl (The BFG)
Illustrations/Quotes
"Of course they're real people. They're
Oompa-Loompas...Imported direct from
Loompaland...And oh what a terrible country
it is! Nothing but thick jungles infested by the
most dangerous beasts in the world hornswogglers and snozzwangers and those
terrible wicked whangdoodles. A
whangdoodle would eat ten Oompa-Loompas
for breakfast and come galloping back for a
second helping."
"A whizzpopper!" cried the BFG, beaming at
her. "Us giants is making whizzpoppers all
the time! Whizzpopping is a sign of
happiness. It is music in our ears! You
surely is not telling me that a little
whizzpopping if forbidden among human
beans?"
— Roald Dahl (The BFG)
— Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory)
Illustrations/Quotes
“At that point, Mary Maloney
simply walked up behind him
and without any pause she
swung the big frozen leg of
lamb high in the air and
brought it down as hard as she
could on the back of his head.”
--Roald Dahl (Lamb to the Slaughter)
“The little pig began to pray
But Wolfie blew hishouse away.
He shouted, “Bacon, Pork and Ham!
Oh, what a lucky wolf I am!”
And though he ate the pig quite fast,
He carefully kept the tail till last”
--Roald Dahl (Revolting Rhymes)
References
Shields, Charles (2002). who wrote that? roald
dahl. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishing.
Dahl, Roald. (1984) boy. New York, NY: Jonathan
Cape Publishing.
http://www.roalddahl.com/
http://www.life.com
http://www.quentinblake.com/index.html
Picture References
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/childrens/roalddahl/day/images/links/leftTail.jpg
http://brimeetsbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bfg-art.jpg
http://www.philnel.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/oompaloompa1998.jpg
Mr. Wonka: "Don’t forget what happened
to the man who suddenly got everything
he wanted."
Charlie Bucket: "What happened?"
Mr. Wonka: "He lived happily ever after."
— Roald Dahl