1. Roald Dahl
By: Chelsi Hummert

2. Childhood Born in Wales on September 13th 1916 Loved stories & books
Child of Harry and Sofie Dahl (Norwegian)
Loved stories & books
His mother told tales of mythical creatures
His father died when he was only 3
Roald kept a diary starting at age 8

3. School Very unhappy at school
Ages 7 to 9 he attended Llandaff Cathedral School
At age 9 he went to St. Peter’s Prep School
At age 13 he started at Repton- a famous public school in Derbyshire
His childhood and school days are the subject of his autobiography BOY

4. Exploration and War
At 18, instead of going to a University, he joined the Public Schools Exploring Society’s expedition to Newfoundland
At 23, Roald signed up with the Royal Air Force when a war started
He was a fighter pilot during World Warll
His adventures at war are outlined in his autobiography GOING SOLO

5. Roald’s first Writing His 1st writing was accidental
In 1942 in Washington, Roald met writer CS Forester (worked for the Saturday Evening Post)
He was writing an article about the war & asked Roald to write about his experience
Forester wrote Roald and said, “Did you know you were a writer- I haven’t changed a word.”
Enclosed was a $900 check from the POST

6. Roald’s first Book THE GREMLINS A picture book published in 1943
About a group of mischievous creatures
who tinkered with the planes of the RAF
A picture book published in 1943
Movie rights were purchased by Disney, but no movie was ever made
Career as a children’s book author began in 1960
Until then, he wrote many short stories for adults

7. Roald’s first Children’s Books
Did not write children’s books until he had his own children
Became interested when he started telling bedtime stories to his 2 daughters
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
Published in America in 1961
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Published in America in 1964

8. Bestselling Books THE BFG THE TWITS THE WITCHES BOY GOING SOLO MATILDA
GEORGE’S MARVELOUS MEDICINE
DANNY THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD

9. Roald’s Characters BOY was written about himself
The grandmother in THE WITCHES was inspired by his mother
Miss Trunchball in MATILDA was based on the characteristics of the Headmaster at one of his schools
Charlie in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is similar to Roald as a young boy
Poor, loved chocolate, faced many obstacles

10. Fun Facts Wrote all of his stories in a small garden shed
Stood at 6’6’’ (Nickname was Lofty)
Wrote the screen play for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Loved chocolate, admits he ate too much of it
Always wrote in pencil, on yellow paper
Fluent in 3 languages: English, Norwegian, Swahili

11. Great Websites The Official Roald Dahl Website
Roald Dahl Fan Site (includes lesson plans)