Some brief notes on the surprising life of the much-loved writer.
When he was at school Roald Dahl received terrible reports for his writing – with one teacher actually writing in his report, ‘I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper!’
After finishing school Roald Dahl, in search of adventure, travelled to East Africa to work for a company called Shell. In Africa he learnt to speak Swahili, drove from diamond mines to gold mines, and survived a bout of malaria where his temperature reached 40.8°C (that’s very high!).
With the outbreak of the Second World War Roald Dahl joined the RAF. But being nearly two metres tall he found himself squashed into his fighter plane, knees around his ears and head jutting forward. Tragically of the 20 men in his squadron, Roald Dahl was one of only three to survive. He wrote about these experiences in his books Boy and Going Solo.
Later in the war Roald Dahl was sent to America. It was there that he met famous author C.S. Forester (author of the Captain Hornblower series) who asked the young pilot to write down his war experiences for a story he was writing. Forester was amazed by the result, telling Dahl, ‘I’m bowled over. Your piece is marvellous. It is the work of a gifted writer. I didn’t touch a word of it.’ (An opinion which would have been news to Dahl’s early teachers!). Forester sent the work straight to the Saturday Evening Post. Dahl’s growing success as an author led him to meet many famous people including Walt Disney, Franklin Roosevelt, and the movie star Patricia Neal – and Patricia and Dahl were married only one year after they met.
The couple bought a house in Great Missenden called Gipsy House. It was here that Dahl began to tell his five children made-up bedtime stories, and from those that he began to consider writing stories for children.
An old wooden shed in the back garden, with a wingbacked armchair, a sleeping bag to keep out the cold, an old suitcase to prop his feet on and always, always six yellow pencils at his hand, was where Roald created the worlds of The BFG, The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and many, many more.
Bluey masks, Roald Dahl favourites, Friday Barnes, Ginger Meggs and more.
In June we mined the depths of the human psyche via Roald Dahl’s 1979 classic short story collection.
Lessons in life from the works of the legendary children’s author.
Beware, the Witches are here. And we have the perfect activity pack to keep you prepared.
Parents: Click here for 10 minutes of peace. (You're welcome).
Penguin Random House (PRH) has been made aware of people impersonating our authors, including Richard Flanagan, and contacting members of the public by email or through social media.
Every great author must start their story somewhere.
Both audiobooks and paperback books offer different ways to experience a story, each with its own distinct benefits.
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, a time to build greater awareness and understanding of dyslexia and the different ways people experience reading. Author R. A. Spratt shares some of the techniques she uses to make her books more accessible for dyslexic readers, along with practical reading and writing tips drawn from her own experience.
The Dashwood sisters return to the big screen in a new Sense and Sensibility adaptation starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles.