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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.

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Last updated on May 15, 2024

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The bfg and sophie, roald dahl, 1954.

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• World Biography

Roald Dahl Biography

Born: September 13, 1916 Llandaff, South Wales Died: November 23, 1990 Oxford, England Welsh author

A writer of both children's fiction and short stories for adults, Roald Dahl is best known as the author of the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (he also wrote the script for the 1971 movie version). Dahl has been described as a master of story construction with a remarkable ability to weave a tale.

A young troublemaker

Roald Dahl was born September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, South Wales, United Kingdom, to Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood summers visiting his grandparents in Oslo, Norway. He was a mischievous child, full of energy, and from an early age he proved himself skilled at finding trouble. His earliest memory was of pedaling to school at a very fast speed on his tricycle, with his two sisters struggling to keep up as he whizzed around curves on two wheels.

After his father died when Dahl was four, his mother followed her late husband's wish that Dahl be sent to English schools. Dahl first attended Llandaff Cathedral School, where he began a series of unfortunate adventures in school. After he and several other students were severely beaten by the principal for placing a dead mouse in a storekeeper's candy jar, Dahl's mother moved him to St. Peter's Boarding School and later to Repton, an excellent private school. Dahl would later describe his school years as "days of horrors" filled with "rules, rules and still more rules that had to be obeyed," which inspired much of his gruesome fiction. Though not a good student, his mother nevertheless offered him the option of attending Oxford or Cambridge University when he finished school. His reply, recorded in his book about his childhood called 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."

The birth of a writer

After graduating from Repton, Dahl took a position with the Shell Oil Company in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Africa. In 1939 he joined a Royal Air Force training squadron in Nairobi, Kenya, serving as a fighter pilot in the Mediterranean during World War II (1939–45). Dahl suffered severe head injuries in a plane crash near Alexandria, Egypt. Upon recovering he was sent to Washington, D.C., to be an assistant air attache (a technical expert who advises government representatives). There Dahl began his writing career, publishing a short story in the Saturday Evening Post. Soon his stories appeared in many other magazines. Dahl told Willa Petschek in a New York Times Book Review profile that "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."

In 1943 Dahl wrote his first children's story, The Gremlins, and invented a new term in the process. Gremlins were small creatures that lived on fighter planes and bombers and were responsible for all crashes. Through the 1940s and into the 1950s Dahl continued as a short story writer for adults, establishing his reputation as a writer of deathly tales with unexpected twists. His stories earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Inspired by his children

In 1953 Dahl married Hollywood actress Patricia Neal, star of such movies as The Fountainhead and, later, Hud, for which she won an Academy Award. Although the marriage did not survive, it produced five children. As soon as the children were old enough, Dahl began making up stories for them each night before they went to bed. These stories became the basis for his career as a children's writer, which began seriously with the publication of James and the Giant Peach in 1961. It tells the fantastic tale of a young boy who travels thousands of miles in a house-sized peach with as strange a group of companions as can be found in a children's book. Dahl insisted that having to invent stories night after night was perfect practice for his trade, telling the New York Times Book Review : "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."

Controversy

One way that Dahl delighted his readers was to take often vicious revenge on cruel adults who had harmed children, as in Matilda (1988). But even some innocent adults received rough treatment, such as the parents killed in a car crash in The Witches (1983). Many critics have objected to the rough treatment of adults. However, Dahl explained in the New York Times Book Review that the children who wrote to him always "pick out the most gruesome events as the favorite parts of the books.… They don't relate it to life. They enjoy the fantasy." He also said that his "nastiness" was payback. "Beastly people must be punished."

In Trust Your Children: Voices Against Censorship in Children's Literature, Dahl said that adults may be disturbed by his books "because they are not quite as aware as I am that children are different from adults. Children are much more vulgar than grownups. They have a coarser sense of humor. They are basically more cruel." Dahl often commented that the key to his success with children was that he joined with them against adults.

"The writer for children must be a jokey sort of a fellow," Dahl once told Writer. "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."

Why a writer?

Dahl's children's fiction is known for its sudden turns into the fantastic, its fast-moving pace, and its decidedly harsh treatment of any adults foolish enough to cause trouble for the young heroes and heroines. Similarly, his adult fiction often relied on a sudden twist that threw light on what had been happening in the story.

Looking back on his years as a writer in Boy: Tales of Childhood, Dahl contended that "two hours of writing fiction leaves this particular writer absolutely drained. For those two hours he has been miles away, he has been somewhere else, in a different place with totally different people, and the effort of swimming back into normal surroundings is very great. It is almost a shock.… A person is a fool to become a writer. His only [reward] is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it."

Roald Dahl died in Oxford, England, on November 23, 1990.

For More Information

Dahl, Roald. Boy: Tales of Childhood. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1984.

Dahl, Roald. Going Solo. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1986.

Dahl, Roald. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. New York: Knopf, 1977.

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Roald Dahl Author Study | Body Biography | Collaborative Poster

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Have your students create a collaborative poster and learn about  Roald Dahl  in a new and engaging way!

Your students will create an author biography by researching Roald Dahl and establishing his profile on a poster.

Students will learn about Roald Dahl’s life and his body of work as a legendary author.

Additionally, they will discover the importance of collaboration and effective communication.

Project Steps:

1) To construct the author study poster, your students will work in groups to conduct research on Roald Dahl.

2) Students will then transfer their findings to boxes on the poster.

3) Next, they will work together to color or paint the pieces of the poster.

4) Lastly, students will tape together the final product.

The poster is made up of six pieces of paper, which can be printed on regular copy paper or card stock.

Once taped together, the final product will be  28″ x 15″  and can last a lifetime if you laminate it!

This resource includes the following:

• Step by Step Student Directions (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Project Rubric (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Graphic Organizer for Students (PDF & editable word document)
• 6 Blank Coloring Pages that come together as one beautiful poster (PDFs)
• Roald Dahl Author Study Answer Key (PDF)
• Example of Final Project (PDF)

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Biography of Roald Dahl, British Novelist

The Memorable Author of Iconic Children's Novels

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Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916–November 23, 1990) was a British writer. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II , he became a world-famous author, particularly due to his best-selling books for children.

Fast Facts: Roald Dahl

• Known For:  English author of children's novels and adult short stories
• Born:  September 13, 1916 in Cardiff, Wales
• Parents:  Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl ( née  Hesselberg)
• Died:  November 23, 1990 in Oxford, England
• Education:  Repton School
• Selected Works:   James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970), The BFG (1982), Matilda (1988)
• Spouses:  Patricia Neal (m. 1953-1983), Felicity Crosland (m. 1983)
• Children:  Olivia Twenty Dahl, Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl, Theo Matthew Dahl, Ophelia Magdalena Dahl, Lucy Neal Dahl
• Notable Quote:  “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.”

Dahl was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1916, in the district of Llandaff. His parents were Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (née Hesselberg), both of whom were Norwegian immigrants. Harold had originally immigrated from Norway in the 1880s and lived in Cardiff with his French first wife, with whom he had two children (a daughter, Ellen, and a son, Louis) before her death in 1907. Sofie immigrated later and married Harold in 1911. They had five children, Roald and his four sisters Astri, Alfhild, Else, and Asta, all of whom they raised Lutheran. In 1920, Astri died suddenly of appendicitis, and Harold died of pneumonia only weeks later; Sofie was pregnant with Asta at the time. Instead of returning to her family in Norway, she stayed in the UK, wanting to follow her husband’s wishes to give their children an English education.

As a boy, Dahl was sent to an English public boarding school , St. Peter’s. He was intensely unhappy during his time there, but never let his mother know how he felt about it. In 1929, he moved to Repton School in Derbyshire, which he found equally unpleasant due to the culture of intense hazing and the cruelty with which older students dominated and bullied the younger ones; his hatred for corporal punishment stemmed from his school experiences. One of the cruel headmasters he loathed, Geoffrey Fisher, later became the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the association somewhat soured Dahl on religion.

Surprisingly, he was not noted as a particularly talented writer during his schoolboy days; in fact, many of his evaluations reflected precisely the opposite. He did enjoy literature, as well as sports and photography. Another of his iconic creations was sparked by his schooling experiences: the Cadbury chocolate company occasionally sent samples of new products to be tested by Repton students, and Dahl’s imagination of new chocolate creations would later turn into his famous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . He graduated in 1934 and took a job with the Shell Petroleum Company; he was sent as an oil supplier to Kenya and Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania).

World War II Pilot

In 1939, Dahl was first commissioned by the army to lead a platoon of indigenous troops as World War II broke out . Soon after, however, he switched to the Royal Air Force , despite having very little experience as a pilot, and underwent months of training before he was deemed fit for combat in the fall of 1940. His first mission, however, went badly awry. After being given instructions that later proved to be inaccurate, he wound up crashing in the Egyptian desert and suffering serious injuries that took him out of combat for several months. He did manage to return to combat in 1941. During this time, he had five aerial victories, which qualified him as a flying ace, but by September 1941, severe headaches and blackouts led to him being invalided home.

Dahl attempted to qualify as an RAF training officer, but instead wound up accepting the post of assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. Although unimpressed and uninterested with his diplomatic posting, he became acquainted with C.S. Forester, a British novelist who was tasked with producing Allied propaganda for American audiences. Forester asked Dahl to write down some of his war experiences to be turned into a story, but when he received Dahl’s manuscript, he instead published it as Dahl had written it. He wound up working with other authors, including David Ogilvy and Ian Fleming, to help promote British war interests, and worked in espionage as well, at one point passing information from Washington to Winston Churchill himself.

The knack for children’s stories that would make Dahl famous first appeared during the war as well. In 1943, he published The Gremlins , turning an inside joke in the RAF (“gremlins” were to blame for any aircraft problems) into a popular story that counted Eleanor Roosevelt and Walt Disney among its fans. When the war ended, Dahl had held the rank of wing commander and squadron leader. Several years after the end of the war, in 1953, he married Patricia Neal, an American actress. They had five children: four daughters and one son.

Short Stories (1942-1960)

• "A Piece of Cake" (published as "Shot Down Over Libya," 1942)
• The Gremlins (1943)
• Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946)
• Sometime Never: A Fable for Superman (1948)
• Someone Like You (1953)
• Kiss Kiss (1960)

Dahl’s writing career began in 1942 with his wartime story. Originally, he wrote it with the title “A Piece of Cake,” and it was bought by The Saturday Evening Post for the substantial sum of $1,000. In order to be more dramatic for war propaganda purposes, however, it was renamed “Shot Down Over Libya,” even though Dahl had not, in fact, been shot down, let alone over Libya. His other major contribution to the war effort was The Gremlins , his first work for children. Originally, it was optioned by Walt Disney for an animated film , but a variety of production obstacles (problems with ensuring the rights to the idea of “gremlins” were open, issues with creative control and RAF involvement) led to the project’s eventual abandonment.

As the war came to an end, he kicked off a career writing short stories, mostly for adults and mostly published originally in a variety of American magazines. In the waning years of the war, many of his short stories remained focused on the war, the war effort, and propaganda for the Allies. First published in 1944 in Harper’s Bazaar , “Beware of the Dog” became one of Dahl’s most successful war stories and eventually was loosely adapted into two different movies.

In 1946, Dahl published his first short story collection. Entitled Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying , the collection includes most of his war-era short stories . They’re notably different from the more famous works he’d later write; these stories were clearly rooted in the wartime setting and were more realistic and less quirky. He also tackled his first (of what would only be two) adult novels in 1948. Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen was a work of dark speculative fiction, combining the premise of his children’s story The Gremlins with a dystopian future imagining worldwide nuclear war. It was largely a failure and has never been reprinted in English. Dahl returned to short stories, publishing two consecutive short story collections: Someone Like You in 1953 and Kiss Kiss in 1960.

Family Struggles and Children’s Stories (1960-1980)

• James and the Giant Peach (1961)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
• The Magic Finger (1966)
• Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl (1969)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970)
• Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)
• Switch Bitch (1974)
• Danny the Champion of the World (1975)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1978)
• The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
• The Best of Roald Dahl (1978)
• My Uncle Oswald (1979)
• Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
• The Twits (1980)
• More Tales of the Unexpected (1980)

The beginning of the decade included some devastating events for Dahl and his family. In 1960, his son Theo’s baby carriage was hit by a car, and Theo nearly died. He suffered from hydrocephalus, so Dahl collaborated with engineer Stanley Wade and neurosurgeon Kenneth Till to invent a valve that could be used to improve treatment. Less than two years later, Dahl's daughter, Olivia, died at age seven from measles encephalitis. As a result, Dahl became a staunch proponent of vaccinations and he also began questioning his faith—a well-known anecdote explained that Dahl was dismayed at an archbishop’s remark that Olivia’s beloved dog could not join her in heaven and began questioning whether or not the Church really was so infallible. In 1965, his wife Patricia suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms during her fifth pregnancy, requiring her to relearn basic skills like walking and talking; she did recover and eventually returned to her acting career.

Meanwhile, Dahl was becoming more and more involved in writing novels for children. James and the Giant Peach , published in 1961, became his first iconic children’s book, and the decade saw several more publications that would go on to endure for years. His 1964 novel, though, would be arguably his most famous: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . The book received two film adaptations, one in 1971 and one in 2005, and a sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator , in 1972. In 1970, Dahl published The Fantastic Mr. Fox , another of his more famous children’s stories.

During this time, Dahl continued to turn out short story collections for adults as well. Between 1960 and 1980, Dahl published eight short story collections, including two “best of” style collections. My Uncle Oswald , published in 1979, was a novel using the same character of the lecherous “Uncle Oswald” who featured in a few of his earlier short stories for adults. He also continuously published new novels for children, which soon surpassed the success of his adult works. In the 1960s, he also briefly worked as a screenwriter, most notably adapting two Ian Fleming novels into films: the James Bond caper You Only Live Twice and the children’s movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang .

Later Stories for Both Audiences (1980-1990)

• George's Marvelous Medicine (1981)
• The BFG (1982)
• The Witches (1983)
• The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
• Two Fables (1986)
• Matilda (1988)
• Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl (1989)
• Esio Trot (1990)
• The Vicar of Nibbleswick (1991)
• The Minpins (1991)

By the early 1980s, Dahl’s marriage to Neal was falling apart. They divorced in 1983, and Dahl remarried that same year to Felicity d’Abreu Crosland, an ex-girlfriend. Around the same time, he caused some controversy with his remarks centered on Tony Clifton's picture book  God Cried , which depicted the siege of West Beirut by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War. His comments at the time were widely interpreted as antisemitic , although others in his circle interpreted his anti-Israel comments as non-malicious and more targeted at the conflicts with Israel.

Among his most famous later stories are 1982’s The BFG and 1988’s Matilda . The latter book was adapted into a much-beloved film in 1996, as well as an acclaimed stage musical in 2010 on the West End and 2013 on Broadway. The last book released while Dahl was still alive was Esio Trot , a surprisingly sweet children’s novel about a lonely old man trying to connect with a woman he has fallen in love with from afar.

Literary Styles and Themes

Dahl was far and away best known for his very particular and unique approach to children’s literature . Certain elements in his books are easily traced to his ugly experiences at boarding school during his youth: villainous, terrifying adults in positions of power who hate children, precocious and observant children as protagonists and narrators, school settings, and plenty of imagination. Although the boogeymen of Dahl’s childhood certainly made plenty of appearances—and, crucially, were always defeated by the children—he also tended to write token “good” adults as well.

Despite being famous for writing for children, Dahl’s sense of style is famously a unique hybrid of the whimsical and the gleefully macabre. It’s a distinctively child-centric approach, but one with a subversive undertone to its obvious warmth. The details of his antagonists’ villainy are often described in childlike but nightmarish detail, and the comic threads in stories such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are laced with dark or even violent moments. Gluttony is a particular target for Dahl’s sharply violent retribution, with several notably fat characters in his canon receiving disturbing or violent ends.

Dahl’s language is notable for its playful style and intentional malapropisms . His books are littered with new words of his own invention, often created by switching around letters or mix-and-matching existing sounds to make words that still made sense, even though they weren’t real words. In 2016, for the centenary of Dahl's birth, lexicographer Susan Rennie created  The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary , a guide to his invented words and their “translations” or meanings.

Near the end of his life, Dahl was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare cancer of the blood, typically affecting older patients, that occurs when blood cells do not “mature” into healthy blood cells. Roald Dahl died on November 23, 1990, in Oxford, England. He was buried at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England, in a fittingly unusual fashion: he was buried with some chocolates and wine, pencils, his favorite pool cues, and a power saw. To this day, his grave remains a popular site, where children and adults alike pay tribute by leaving flowers and toys.

Dahl’s legacy largely dwells in the enduring power of his children’s books. Several of his most famous works have been adapted into several different media, from film and television to radio to stage. It’s not just his literary contributions that have continued to have an impact, though. After his death, his widow Felicity continued his charitable work through the Roald Dahl Marvellous Children’s Charity, which supports children with various illnesses throughout the UK. In 2008, the UK charity Booktrust and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen joined forces to create The Roald Dahl Funny Prize, awarded annually to authors of humorous children's fiction. Dahl’s particular brand of humor and his sophisticated yet approachable voice for children’s fiction have left an indelible mark.

• Boothroyd, Jennifer.  Roald Dahl: A Life of Imagination . Lerner Publications, 2008.
• Shavick, Andrea.  Roald Dahl: The Champion Storyteller . Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Sturrock, Donald.  Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl , Simon & Schuster, 2010.
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Roald Dahl Fans

Fan site for author Roald Dahl (1916-1990)

Spineless Classics Posters

In 2013, the Roald Dahl estate partnered with  Spineless Classics  to produce a line of Roald Dahl posters that reproduce a book’s entire text on a single sheet.

Roald Dahl Timeline – Posters And Questions

Help your children to learn about Roald Dahl’s life with our printable timeline resources. We have a handy overview (with related questions) and a set of 40 mini-posters for use on your classroom display boards!

Here are some suggested ways to use these resources in the classroom:

• Give your children a copy of the timeline overview and ask them to think of questions to ask each other about Roald Dahl’s life.
• Challenge your students to answer our questions about Roald Dahl’s life. We have included the answers for you (or for self-checking).
• Cut out the smaller ‘card’ versions of the timeline posters and use them for sorting / sequencing activities. Can your children put them in chronological order?
• Ask your children to use the timeline information to write Roald Dahl’s biography.
• Challenge your children to find out other events from Roald Dahl’s life. Can they make their own posters / cards to add to the collection?
• Display the posters around your classroom to show the timeline of Dahl’s life.

If you can suggest any other ways of using these resources, please let us know in the comments.

Roald Dahl Timeline – Questions

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Roald Dahl Timeline – Posters

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13 phizz-whizzing facts about Roald Dahl

We’ve put together some fantastic facts about roald dahl’s life, and boy are there some humdingers….

13th September 2020 marks what would have been Roald Dahl’s 104th birthday!

To celebrate all the brilliant books , playful poems and witty words he gave us over the years, we’ve put together some fantastic facts about the author’s life, and boy are there some humdingers…

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Roald Dahl primary resource ? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

Roald Dahl facts

1. dahl wrote many of his stories in a little shed at the bottom of his garden.

Known as his ‘writing hut’, Dahl sat in a battered old armchair and penned famous tales such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .

2. He was a fighter pilot in World War II 

During a flight in a Gloster Gladiator (fighter plane) in 1940 over Libya, Dahl crash landed in the desert and survived – all because he’d been given the wrong directions!

3. Dahl wrote for around four hours every single day

From 10am – 12pm, and then 4pm – 6pm

4. He never learned how to type

Instead, Dahl preferred to do all his writing in an old red book in pencil.

5. When Roald Dahl died in 1990, he was buried with some of his favourite things

Including a power drill, chocolate, snooker cues and of course, his HB pencils.

6. There are strange mementos still sitting in his writing hut

These include a huge ball made of old chocolate wrappers, and a piece of hip bone that he had to have removed!

Quentin Blake illustrated many of Dahl’s much loved books over the years.

7. dahl was a spy.

During World War II he passed intelligence to MI6 from Washington.

8. Dahl invented over 250 new words

There’s even an official Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary to help you tell your snozzcumbers from your snozzberries.

9. Many of Dahl’s characters were based on people he’d met in real life

The grandmother in The Witches is said to be based on Dahl’s mother, and the little girl in The BFG was named after his granddaughter, Sophie. 

10. Dahl was born in Wales, but his parents were Norwegian

As a child, Roald spoke fluent Norwegian and English. He’s even named after the famous Norwegian polar explorer, Roald Amundson.

11. Writing wasn’t his strong point at school

– according to his teachers, anyway!

12. In 1971, a real man named Willy Wonka wrote to Roald Dahl

He was a postman from Nebraska.

13. Roald Dahl was a giant!

Okay, not quite like the ones in his stories, but he was 6 foot 6 inches tall! This earned him the nickname ‘Lofty’ when he served in the RAF.

Which is your favourite Roald Dahl book? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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Nice facts and my favourite book is... The BFG

George’s Marvellous Medicine, because it’s SO funny!

Esio Trot is my favourite, because it just is!

its very creative!

thx for the facts

I got the whole collection of Roald Dahl books yesterday, I've already read two and love them! My favourite is Matilda though!

My favorite book: The witches and Charlie and the chocolate factory

I all most read every book he has

Thank you and very interesting

i love roald dahl

The fantastic Mr fox

The Fantastic Mr Fox

Ilove reading his books so much

James and giant peach

wow i did not know that

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii coooooooooolllllllllllllll

My favourite book was the twits

Love the info

I like this info

I love this facts but they can be shorter

I like Matilda

Thanks for the info

he is a auspicious author and i am a fan of him

Fantastic Mr.Fox !!!!

I like matilda

easy to find.

The Twits is my favorite book

My favrourite is Danny The Campion of The world so far. I found out the arthor Roald Dahl when I was in the Op-shop.

My favourite Roal Dahl book is Matilda

My dog is called Sophie my favorite is the bfg

I love Roald Dahl! Matilda is my favourite. And to think writing wasn’t his strong point at school?!

I don't have a favorite because all of them are TRULY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved roald dahl's books , and I have always wanted to meet him. But sadly, he has already past away.

#1 fan roald dahl my 3 favourite books are the twits, matilda and james and the jient peach love you roald xoxoxo

We like the BFG because there are amazing twists about the story.

i love reading Roald Dahl books my fav book is the witches :) :] ps. i love you Roald Dahl

Brilliant I love his books

I love all of Roald Dahls books

the bfg is my favourite. and the little girl is called sophie because his granddaughter sophie used to call him the bfs.

#1 fan! My favourite book is Mischief and Mayham. Your the BEST Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl is AWESOME! My favourite book is Mischief and Mayham.

My favourite book is CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Well done Roald Dahl

I love Matilda

Love the facts

I love Roald Dahl

My favorite is Matilda because I like the adventure, the Trunchbull and her super power.

love love love thease amazing books so cool

my favourite is the BFG

I love Roald Dahl books, especially The BFG and Matilda

my favourites are probably The BFG because it is so entertaining and funny. next is Matilda because it has so much in it!

All his books are the MOST BEST BOOKS EVER

BFG because its funny and intresting

I have Roald Dahl audio books... all of them!

My favourite Roald Dahl stories are The witches and The BFG

wow that is a lot of facts about one of my fave author Roald Dahl!!!!! :)

My favourite Roald Dahl book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - because i like chocolate, my dad doesn't like the umpa-lumpas

He is my most favourite author of all times.

I love Matilda!

bfg its awesome

I think number 12 is super cool

my favourite book is the BFG

My fav is Matilda.

Great facts

My favourite book of roald dahl is the witches because it teaches us to not go with strangers.

my favorite roald dahl book is the twits

my favourite Roald Dahl book is the BFG. Fun fact I was born in the same month as Roald Dahl...SEPTEMBER!!!

All of them and thank you for the facts

he was the greatest story teller but how did he die?

I love Roald Daul books!

Matilda is awsome

my favarrite book is the bfg

This is amazing and cool to learn facts about Ronald Dahl !.

cool facts i love it

I like the BFG because he says silly words and blows dreams i wondered where dreams came from.

i like esio trot

my favourite book is danny the champion of the world

BEST FACTS EVER!!!

Amazing Roald dahl is one of my favorite authors eve!!!!

I love Matilda.

My favourite Roald Dahl book is Georges Marvellous Medicine!

Loved his books ( especially the bfg) I knew most of these facts but the others were great to know

James and the giant peach!!!

Matilda is my favourite book

Charlie and the chocolate factory

My favourite Roald Dahl book is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Im planning to become a storyteller when I grow up.

I love the BFG!

My favourite book is the BFG

I really like the book Matilda. I like the way Dahl put the characters together. Miss Trunchbull is super freaky and cool at the same time:-)

I love the BFG because of all the hilarious words!

My favourite Roald Dahl book is Charlie and the chocolate factory because it is all about chocolate and I love chocolate.

My favourite book by Roald Dahl is the bfg

Favourite book? How can I choose just one? The BFG is wonderful but Danny the Champion of the World also holds a special place in my heart! A grown up child of 40!

Roal Dhal is an amazing author. My favorite Roal Dhal book is Matilda.

he is 100 today and i went to school first day and i did not know he died in 1990

My favourite Roald Dahl book is Matilda because it is funny and enjoyable and i love reading just like her

the twits is my fav

CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR

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Biography : Roald Dahl

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Roald Dahl Was a WW II Spy and Fighter Pilot Before Becoming a Beloved Children's Book Author

Prior to writing 'James and the Giant Peach,' 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda,' and more, Dahl was a member of the Air Force and involved in a covert spy operation.

It all started during World War II when Dahl left his oil industry job in Tanzania to enlist in the Royal Air Force in 1939. Despite measuring well over six feet, which made it difficult for him to fit into a cockpit, he became a fighter pilot. But on his first excursion he crashed in the Libyan desert (Dahl would later write that he'd been shot down, but it was an accidental crash).

The crash fractured his skull, injured his spine and destroyed his nose. Swelling left him temporarily unable to see, and it took several months for Dahl to recover. But he turned down a chance to go back home to convalesce in the hopes of flying again, and in the spring of 1941, he was cleared to join the battle against the German invasion of Greece.

In this fight, the small number of British planes were vastly outnumbered by German ones, and aerial combat was often deadly for the British pilots. Dahl survived the dangerous flights and took down some of the enemy before it was necessary to retreat. Yet after this, he only flew for a few more weeks. Suffering from increasingly painful headaches and occasional blackouts linked to his earlier injuries, he was deemed unfit to fly.

Dahl became a spy in Washington, D.C.

In 1942, America was a recent ally in World War II. But the country still had many isolationists who were unhappy about joining the fight — some even felt President Franklin D. Roosevelt had conspired to let Pearl Harbor happen in order to push America toward war. As a dashing, wounded fighter pilot, Dahl was sent to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., to help make the case for U.S. involvement in the war.

Dahl could be charming, which won him invitations to dinners and cocktail parties. And he was helped along in society by the friendship of Charles Marsh, a newspaper owner and oil magnate (whose other mentees included Lyndon Johnson ). Eventually, Dahl became involved in the covert spy operation British Security Coordination.

BSC's agents were keeping an eye on U.S. involvement in the war, as well as scoping out any post-war plans the United States might be making. His work as a spy still called for Dahl to attend a lot of dinners and cocktail parties — but now he was reporting the tidbits and gossip he heard to BSC.

He was tight with major political players

When Dahl was invited to visit Hyde Park with President Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt , he took notes to pass along to BSC. Among Dahl's other notable friends and acquaintances were Vice President Henry Wallace (the two regularly played tennis) and then-Senator Harry Truman (who Dahl joined for poker games). Dahl also had numerous affairs, including with Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce. The congresswoman wasn't an avid supporter of British interests; Dahl may have been directed to encourage her to change these views.

Dahl's friend Marsh inadvertently aided the younger man's espionage when he showed Dahl some papers from Wallace regarding America's plans for the aviation industry once the war was over. Dahl was so intrigued by what he'd read that he arranged for someone to come and take the papers to be copied. While this was happening he lingered by the lavatory to establish an alibi should anyone wonder why it had taken him so long to read the document.

Dahl was valued enough that even when his higher-ups at the embassy didn't want him around any longer — he was a very undiplomatic diplomat who didn't care for office life — BSC arranged for his return to the States. And he had enough pull that he was able to help Ernest Hemingway travel to London, where Dahl served as Hemingway's minder, prior to D-Day.

Dahl nearly made a film with Walt Disney

Being an embassy attaché and spy would seem enough to occupy most people — but Dahl also found time to write while he was posted in the States during World War II. A piece about his crash in Libya impressed writer C.S. Forester so much that he helped Dahl get it published in the Saturday Evening Post .

Another Dahl project was about gremlins. These creatures had a long history within the RAF, often receiving the blame for mechanical failures. Dahl's work on a story about gremlins led to interest from Walt Disney , who began developing an animated feature. Dahl made trips to Hollywood to work on the film (on one occasion dining with Ginger Rogers). But he proved to be a difficult collaborator at times, arguing with Disney about how the gremlins should look. And as commercial prospects for the movie seemed to dim, Disney decided not to make it after all.

Dahl's gremlins did appear in an illustrated book published under the Disney aegis in 1943 (he sent a copy to Eleanor Roosevelt, which helped the two forge their friendship). But this book would be the only children's publication on Dahl's resume for many years to come. It wasn't until he wrote James and the Giant Peach , which was published in the United States in 1961, that he discovered his true calling: writing books for children.

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Roald Dahl biography

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