D Is for Dahl

Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Llandaff, Cardiff to Norwegian parents. Both his elder sister and his father died when he was three, and his mother bought up her other four children in South Wales and later in Kent. When World War Two broke out, he enlisted in the RAF and became a fighter pilot of the 80th squadron. You can read more about this time of his life in the books, BOY AND GOING SOLO. It was after a serious crash over the Libyan desert, where he suffered terrible injuries, that he started writing. After the war, Roald Dahl moved to Washington DC and began writing short stories for adults. His first children’s book was published in 1944, THE GREMLINS. His second children’s book came in 1961 – JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH – and it is still a bestseller today. After this, he wrote a string of bestsellers, including CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, which was voted the best children’s book of all time. Roald Dahl died in November 1990 aged 75. During his life, Roald Dahl came to be known as one of the greatest storytellers ever; he was a constant winner of ‘Author of the Year’ awards and his books are translated into 37 different languages.

Quentin Blake has been drawing ever since he can remember and has always made his living as an illustrator. He has also taught, and for eight years was Head of the Illustration department at the Royal College of Art. Quentin Blake was made an OBE in 1988 and, in the words of The Guardian, was “already a national institution” when he was appointed the first Children’s Laureate in 1999.