The great Roald Dahl
Posted: September 9, 2020 Filed under: Books, Children's Books, Fantasy, Fiction, Growing Bookworms, Reading | Tags: #Reading, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, George's Marvelous Medicine, Growing Bookworms, James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl, Writing to be Read 43 Comments
September 13 is the birthday of Roald Dahl, children’s writer extraordinaire. Of course, Roald Dahl also wrote for adults and I have read and enjoyed a number of his adult stories, including my favourite, Lamb to the Slaughter.
I believe he is best known, however, for his children’s books which are filled with his unusual imagery, imagination and his wacky sense of humour. Roald Dahl is guaranteed to appeal to the most reluctant child reader and his books are a terrific way to get them engaged in a good story which will entertain you as the parent too.
My favourite Roald Dahl book is The Witches, but today, I am going to focus on Michael’s and Gregory’s favourite Roald Dahl books.
Michael’s favourite – James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach is all about a young English lad who is orphaned at an early age due to an escaped rhinoceros from the zoo eating both his parents. James is sent to live with his Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, who are the most horrible pair imaginable and treat him very badly.
One afternoon when James has been banished from the house by his selfish and mean aunts, he meets an old man in the garden who gives him a packet of magic green wriggly things which he says will change James’ life. Unfortunately, James drops the bag and all the wriggly magical things escape into the ground under an old peach tree.
The next morning, when James wakes up, there is a peach growing on the tree. It grows and it grows and James soon becomes embroiled in an amazing adventure.
I enjoyed this book because it features a number of human sized insects: Miss Spider, Miss Ladybird, the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the Earthworm, the Glowworm, and my personal favourite, the Centipede. This book teaches youngsters all about these amazing creatures and goes a long way towards demystifying them and making them seem really interesting and appealing. This is a refreshing change from the usual disdain that insects are treated with and they use their special talents, like the ability to spin thread, to save the day.
You can purchase James and the Giant Peach here: https://www.amazon.com/James-Giant-Peach-Colour-Roald-ebook/dp/B01LOHTSAU
Gregory’s favourite – George’s Marvellous Medicine
I say this is Gregory’s favourite Roald Dahl book, but it is more accurate to say its my mother’s favourite. My mother loves this story and has listened to it many times with both Gregory and Michael.
George’s Grandma lives with his family and a more tyrannical and awful old lady you will never find in the whole of England. Grandma is set in her ways, takes nasty medication and spends her time complaining, grousing, grouching, grumbling and griping.
One day, George’s parents go out leaving him in charge of looking after Grandma, including administering her medication. George decides to make her his own medicine as the old one isn’t doing the trick. Anything he makes could only be an improvement. All sorts of amazing things go into George’s medicine and when he gives it to the old woman, it has the most marvelous and amazing impact on her.
This is a story filled with vivid imagination and fun.
You can purchase George’s Marvellous Medicine here:
https://www.amazon.com/Georges-Marvellous-Medicine-Roald-Dahl-ebook/dp/B002VISNF8
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of Roald Dahl’s most famous books for children and has been made into a movie twice. My personal favourite of the two movies is the older musical with Gene Wilder.
Here is my favourite song from this movie:
The oompa loompa violet beauregarde song
If you would like to find out more about Roald Dahl, you can do so on the official Roald Dahl website here: https://www.roalddahl.com/home/teachers
And on his fan site here: https://www.roalddahlfans.com/
Official quotes from Roald Dahl Books
About Robbie Cheadle
Hello, my name is Robbie, short for Roberta. I am an author with seven published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with my son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about my mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with my mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of my children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications.
I have recently branched into adult and young adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential my children’s books from my adult writing, I plan to publish these books under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. My first supernatural book published in that name, Through the Nethergate, is now available.
I have participated in a number of anthologies:
- Two short stories in Spellbound, a forthcoming collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
- Two short stories in the forthcoming Spirits of the West, A Wordcrafter Western Paranormal Anthology edited by Kaye Lynne Booth;
- Two short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Dark Visions, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
- Three short stories in Death Among Us, an anthology of murder mystery stories, edited by Stephen Bentley;
- Three short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Nightmareland, a collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre; and
- Two short stories in Whispers of the Past, an anthology of paranormal stories, edited by Kaye Lynne Booth.
I also have a book of poetry called Open a new door, with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.
Find Robbie Cheadle
Blog: https://bakeandwrite.co.za/
Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com
Twitter: BakeandWrite
Instagram: Robbie Cheadle – Instagram
Facebook: Sir Chocolate Books
Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Growing Bookworms” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress.
Writing to be Read 
Reblogged this on Robbie's inspiration and commented:
It’s Roald Dahl’s birthday on the 13th of September. I am over at Writing to be Read with a post to celebrate this event. Thank you Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting me.
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As always, my pleasure, Robbie. 🙂
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Excellent, Robbie. Thanks.
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Thanks John
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How nice to be reminded of Roald Dahl!
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He is marvelous, isn’t he?
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Robbie, this is delightful and informative too. Dahl had a hand in more stories than I realized. Hugs on the wing.
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He did, Teagan. I have a number of his adult books which are also terrific.
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Roald Dahl is one of my favorite writers.
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Mine too, Frank. He is very clever and witty.
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Roald Dahl is my favorite writer too, Robbie, and love James and the Giant Peach. I’ve seen one version of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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I prefer the old version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Miriam. I found the Johnny Depp version very creepy. I’m glad you also enjoy these stories.
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I must see the old version. I’m watching some classic movies with my husband because he wants me to do something with him together in the evenings.
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That is lovely, Miriam.
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Thank you for the smile! Great books and terrific quotes!
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Thank you, Annette. Roald Dahl’s books are amazing. I can read Fantastic Mr Fox in 15 minutes and I enjoy doing that every now and then.
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A lovely post Robbie and an author who has left a wonderful legacy behind that will delight children for generations to come.. thanks Kaye Lynn for hosting..
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Thank you, Sally. Roald Dahl is a favourite author of mine.
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I can tell Robbie…♥
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Thanks to you, Sally, for visiting here. Robbie has a knack for making excellent choices in topics, books to review and authors to interview. Her posts always receive a warm reception here. This post is no exception. 🙂
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I agree with you Kaye Lynne.. always interesting and entertaining..have a good weekend. x
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🙂
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Thank you, Kaye.
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He was an extraordinary writer. I have a book of his short stories written for adults. Some are quite macabre.
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Yes, I love them Darlene. His story stories for adults are the first I think of when I list my favourite short story books for adults.
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😊
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he is one of the greats; thanks for bringing back some good memories…
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He really was a brilliant writer, Jim. Among the best.
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Somehow, I missed the Roald Dahl books, athough I’ve read a couple of his short stories.
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I must be honest, Liz, I love his books. We have the CD collection of his children’s stories and my boys and I have listened to them to many times to count.
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I don’t know how I missed out on them. Maybe a timing thing.
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I don’t think I ever made it through a school year without reading a Roald Dahl book to my students. One of their favorites was The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). The giant whizzpoppers made the boys and even some of the girls laugh every time.
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Hi Pete, The BFG is a great one, as well as Matilda and one of my favourites, The Giraffe, the Pelly and me.
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I lived read the BFG and Witched to my daughters. Life lessons, great storytelling and humor all beautifully together.
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HI Antoinette, these are also wonderful books. I like all of his writing and it is interesting to see people’s favourites.
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The boys and I loved his books, but I’ve never read any of his adult novels. Fab post, Robbie!
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Thank you, Teri. I’m glad you enjoyed this. I love Roald Dahl.
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What a great bunch of books to highlight, Robbie. I was especially delighted by the quotes. Wonderful wisdom and advice. Happy Reading!
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Thank you, Diana. It is interesting that Roald Dahl is said to have been an unpleasant person. The same is said of Enid Blyton. Two of my favourite children’s authors.
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I didn’t know that. How interesting. I automatically assume that people who write children’s books are the kindest people on the planet… like you, for example. 😀
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Thank you, Diana, that is kind of you.
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Thank you for sharing! You can say what you want, but Robbie is the female version of Roald Dahl. Her children books with the artwork and advice pushing kids to action is fantastic. Michael
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