Hooray!
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite children’s authors, Roald Dahl. His inventive stories and silliness captured my imagination as a child and still enchants children to this day. It is no surprise that he has earned the title as the world’s #1 storyteller.
To celebrate, let’s learn more about Dahl:
This biography comes from my favorite source which I use most often for Sunday’s “Quickly Quotable” posts – Answers.com.
Quirky and outlandish tales like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory made Roald Dahl a popular children’s author of the 20th century. His early career as a salesman for Shell Petroleum in Africa was interrupted by World War II; Dahl joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot, saw action, and ended up as a liaison in Washington, D.C. There he met the author C.S. Forester, who encouraged Dahl to write about his war experiences. Most of Dahl’s early tales were short stories for adults, often alarmingly macabre and with O. Henry-style twists. In the 1960s he began to write children’s books; his first, James and the Giant Peach, was published in 1961. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the tale of a poor urchin who wins a tour of the magical candy factory of Willy Wonka, was published in 1964. It became Dahl’s best-known book and was made into a feature film in 1971 (starring Gene Wilder as Wonka and Peter Ostrum as Charlie) and again in 2005 (with Johnny Depp as Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie). Dahl’s many other books include Danny The Champion of the World (1975), The BFG (1982) and Matilda (1988).
Dahl married the actress Patricia Neal in 1953; they were divorced in 1983, and he married Felicity Crossland the same year… The song “The Candy Man,” popularized by Sammy Davis, Jr., was written for the film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… The rock band Veruca Salt was named for an unpleasant little girl from the same story… Dahl scripted the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice and co-wrote the 1968 film of another Ian Fleming book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
My personal favorite books by Dahl are Matilda and the BFG. I plan on reading these to my children and one day their children as well.
For some fun head over to the official Roald Dahl website where you can find all sorts of interesting information for adults and activities for kids.
My Literary Quest 
Truly one of the greats. A fitting tribute!
I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and so wanted to find the Golden Ticket. 8)
I never heard of Matilda or The BFG. I may have to check them out . . . and read them to my inner child.
For a real life search for “the Golden Ticket” :
http://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/fun-with-words-masquerade/
Thanks, Jodi!
They are delightful reads, I hope you do!
I was introduced to Roald Dahl through the TV series “Tales of the Unexpected”. By God, that man could tell a good story.
I haven’t seen that one, I’ll have to look it up.
Hi. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory And Matilda. =D
I didn’t realize his birthday had passed–my 10 year old and I are reading one of Dahl’s books right now. It’s so much fun! I worked at her school’s book fair last week and was surprised how well the Dahl books still sale–despite the years that have passed since he wrote them, they are still appealing to kids today. That’s comforting–a good story sticks, regardless of the generation!