Happy Roald Dahl Day!

My son is coming to an age where he can start building his own Roald Dahl collection and these are high on Father Christmas’ list for 2019. It seemed like a good time to share my own childhood memories of these books.

NB: This is a post from 2018 that has been edited.

My earliest reading memories are built on Roald Dahl’s books. His books brought joy and fear to my childhood and today I shall share those memories and my fondness for his characters.

Roald Dahl’s birthday is 13 September. Each year during September activities are planned close to his birthday to celebrate his books. Find out how to celebrate on his website.

My memories

As a child he was one of my favourite authors and his books will always hold a special place in my heart.

The first novel I stayed up to read

As a little girl, my dad read me a chapter of a book each night at bedtime. One night, we started the BFG (Big Friendly Giant).

He finished the first chapter, tucked me in and turned off the light. But, I couldn’t sleep as I wondered, what happened next to the kidnapped little girl in giant land?

Their was a dim glow coming from my nightlight and I sat up and took a sneaky peek at the next chapter… – Next thing I knew, it is morning. The book was finished and I hadn’t slept a wink. I think I had to take the day off school to recover from my reading marathon.

I wasn’t a fan of the film. The little girl wasn’t how I pictured her but it may be that it was a long-time since I read the book.

The scariest book I never finished

After that, my dad thought I was able to read before bed on my own. He reminded me of the importance of sleep and tucked me in.

One night, Roald Dahl engrossed me in a world where terrible child-loathing withes existed. It was so real and terrifying, I never finished the book.

I have since watched the film and loved it but the book is still too much.

My all time favourite

It has to be Matilda. She’s a likable character that is strong and determined and doesn’t let her misfortune hold her back. She has telekinetic powers and uses them to make things right. I wanted to be her.

The film is great fun for kids. All the characters look exactly as I imagined, especially, the villain, Ms Trunchball.

I wonder if this book gave birth to my love of contemporary fantasy.

Final thoughts…

I hope my son loves Roald Dahl as much as me so I can relive my favourite books with him. I think he will enjoy the Twits as the disgusting humour is just his cup of tea.

Noah has just finished the Reading Challenge over the summer holidays and he is getting more confident in his ability to read himself. He is currently reading Dirty Bertie (Mascot) by David Roberts as his first chapter book, although we still take it in turns to read pages.

What is your favourite Roald Dahl Book? Have you ever stayed up all night to finish a book or found a book more scary than the film?

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