Roald Dahl Sophia Smith-Savedoff Sydney Morton Hannah Kast

Biography Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916 in Llandaff, South Wales. He passed away on November 23, 1990 in Oxford, England. When Roald was four years old his father past away and he was sent to a boarding school in England. Roald attended numerous boarding schools due to his mischievous behavior. After secondary education, Roald refused an offer from his mother to attend Oxford or Cambridge University because he wanted to start his career.

Becoming an Author Roald followed his career as a business man to a series of different countries including Egypt, where he suffered a severe head injury in a plane accident. Roald was sent to Washington, D.C. to recover and start a new job, which is where he began writing for the Saturday Evening Post. Roald Dahl wrote his first children's novel, The Gremlins, in 1943.

Well Known Titles George’s Marvelous Medicine James and the Giant Peach Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Fantastic Mr. Fox Matilda The Witches The BFG The Book of Ghost Stories

Influences English boarding schools with harsh discipline (and even abuse) lead to stories of heroic children and evil adults At one of his schools, Cadbury Co. would have boys test chocolates—a favorite with Dahl. Chocolate makes a recurring appearance in many of his novels.

Criticisms two dimensional characters problematic portrayal of adults accusations of ageism, sexism and racism grotesque and violen all98/royer.html

“ If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.” “Writing is all propaganda, in a sense. You can get at greediness and selfishness by making them look ridiculous. The greatest attribute of a human being is kindness, and all the other qualities like bravery, and perseverance are secondary to that.” Roald Dahl on Reading and Writing:

Roald Dahl on Writing for Children "I only write about things that are exciting or funny. Children know I’m on their side.” “If you want to remember what it’s like to live in a child’s world, you’ve got to get down on your hands and knees and live like that for a week. You’ll find you have to look up at all these… giants around you who are always telling you what to do and what not to do.” asp

Dahl's Writing Reviewed “Roald Dahl… addressed his child readers over the heads and behind the backs of disapproving adults, and they loved him for it. He reveled in the vulgar and disgusting, drawing delighted cries of “yuck” with his graphic descriptions of food caught in the beard of Mr Twit.” The Independent “Dahl books, strong on plot and instilled with a tremendous sense of mischief, insist on seeing the world through children’s eyes, and often portray adults as silly, uncomprehending or insensitive; no wonder kids love them.” Sainsbury’s - The Magazine ahl.asphttp:// ahl.asp

Resources for Teachers Roald Dahl’s website, includes biography, photos, interviews, books and more htmlhttp:// html Includes links to biographic information and lesson plans for individual books

More Resources Dahl.htmlhttp://litplans.com/authors/Roald_ Dahl.html Links to literature plans for Roald Dahl’s well known books sources/S shtmlhttp:// sources/S shtml Database of literature plans and biographical information- separates by book

Final Teacher Resources hers.phphttp:// hers.php Collection of literature plans, separated by books and short stories

The BFG Young Sophie is snatched by a Big Friendly Giant, and taken away in the middle of the night. The BFG collects dreams and is responsible for blowing them into people’s heads while they sleep. But there are other giants who snatch children out of their beds and eat them. Sophie and the BFG devise a plan to bring this to the attention of the Queen of England and enlist her help in stopping the child-eating giants.

 “When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it’s as big as a house. Then James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit, and when he crawls inside, he meets a bunch of oversized friends-Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, and more. After years of feeling like an outsider in his aunts’ house, James has finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the adventure begins!” James and the Giant Peach.

Matlida Matilda is the story of a precocious young girl who loves reading. Her teacher, Miss Honey, is the only adult who appreciates her strengths. Matilda’s parents tell her to watch more TV, and the school principle, Miss Trunchbull, is incredibly mean to all the students. Matilda’s life becomes interesting, however, when she realizes she has magic powers…