What do Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The Witches have in common?Roald Dahl!
Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916 in Cardiff, Wales.
He was an ace fighter pilot and a spy for the Royal Air Force in World War II.
After suffering a crash in the 1940s, Dahl’s flying career ended, and his writing career began.
Dahl wrote for adults only at first. He published articles, short stories and serious novels.
He married actress Patricia Neal in 1953 and had five children.
It was only in 1943 that he finally wrote and published his first children’s book – Gremlins.
That was quickly followed by what became classics, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The BFG and more.
Dahl was eccentric and fun, just like his characters!
Through his books for children, Dahl invented close to 8,000 English words, like ‘phizz-whizzing’, ‘wondercrump’, ‘swashboggling’, and more!
He spent four hours a day writing in his favourite armchair. Dahl always used single-ruled notepads and pencils to write because he never learned how to type!
Dahl’s stories for children became wildly popular thanks to their amazingly adventurous plot lines and villains who were always adults.
His stories always encouraged children to be brave, kind, and smart.
Dahl passed away on 23 November 1990 due to cancer.
Roald Dahl will remain one of the most legendary writers in the world because of the impact of his words, particularly on young minds.