Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl was a British author of Norwegian descent whose darkly comic, wildly imaginative children's books have made him one of the most beloved storytellers in the world. His stories — cruel, funny, anarchic, and utterly unforgettable — have sold over 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages. Born in Llandaff, Cardiff in 1916 to Norwegian parents, Dahl had a childhood marked by loss and hardship. His father and older sister died when he was young, and he endured brutal treatment at English boarding schools — experiences that informed the cruelty of adult characters in his fiction and his unwavering sympathy for children. After school, he worked for Shell Oil in East Africa before serving as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, suffering severe injuries in a crash in the Libyan desert. His first children's book, James and the Giant Peach, was published in 1961. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory followed in 1964, introducing the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka and becoming one of the most famous children's books ever written. Matilda, The BFG, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, Danny the Champion of the World, The Twits, and George's Marvellous Medicine followed, each one displaying Dahl's signature combination of dark imagination, subversive humour, and a gleeful willingness to let terrible things happen to terrible people. Dahl's genius lay in understanding that children love stories that take them seriously — stories with real danger, genuine nastiness, and the delicious satisfaction of seeing bullies and tyrants get their comeuppance. His writing is lean, vivid, and electrifyingly paced, with illustrations by Quentin Blake that became inseparable from the stories themselves. He also wrote acclaimed fiction for adults, including Tales of the Unexpected, which was adapted into a popular television series. The audiobook editions of Dahl's children's books are enormously popular, with narrators and full-cast recordings bringing his unforgettable characters and inventive language to delightful life. The audiobooks are a family favourite and a wonderful way to share Dahl's stories with young listeners. Roald Dahl died in 1990. His books and audiobooks continue to enchant and disturb in equal measure — which is exactly how he would have wanted it.