Roald Dahl was one of children’s literature most loved authors; but, he’s also a profoundly interesting person who produced modern stories that can be considered fairy tale influenced.
Dahl lived an interesting life; he wrote a fantastic book, Boy: Tales of Childhood about it. It’s one of my favorite books, and I would recommend you check it out.
He was born: 1916 in South Wales to Norwegian parents, and spent many summers in Oslo, Norway. His father passed when he was 4 and known to be rambunctious & mischievous boy.
At his father’s wishes, he was enrolled at Repton (British boarding school)However, he hated the rules of school; Found the traditions cruel. He wanted adventure; so, when he graduated, he refused his mother’s offer of Cambridge or Oxford university education
Then, he took a job with Shell Oil company where he worked in Africa for several years. In 1939 – Joined Royal Air Force
In the force, he was in a plane crash in Egypt. He was injured, so he was sent to DC as assistant. [There’s much speculation he was party of a spy ring which is written about here.]
In DC, he began to write stories and was published in The New Yorker. He also wrote short stories for adults which began to popular. In 1953, he married Patricia Neal and had 5 children. One of the most tragic times in his life was when one of his children, in 1962, died of measles.
After this tragedy, he began to write more and started to collect his writings for his own children.
Telling his children nighttime stories inspired his writing:
“Children are … highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly,” he asserted in his New York Times book review interview. ” 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.”
Next up: Roald Dahl’s publications and beloved books!