His books have a delicious darkness to them
that was lacking from the work of so many other great children’s writers. I
couldn’t read witches before going to bed because I wouldn’t sleep from the
fright.
His was a children’s author and a dark
writer. Along with the utter delight of likable wallpaper and the marvel of
George’s medicine, the magic in Matilda’s eyes and the BFG’s bottled dreams, he
wrote about dark evil deeds done by mean and horrible people.
Mrs Trunchbull (Matilda), the Twits, Boggis
Bunce and Bean (Fantastic Mr Fox) must rank as some of the most vile characters
in literature. That’s without considering the head witch in The Witches.
*shudder
I also adored his two biographies – Boy and
Going Solo. If you overlooked these books when you were younger, they are must
reads, so get them out of the library sometime.
All of this Roald Dahl cannon stills sits
on my bookshelf today; spines cracked, pages yellows, thumbed and smudged and
much-loved. A few years ago I was gifted a collection of his short stories –
five books worth, hundreds of stories and not one of them suitable for
children. Even now some of them give me the creeps.
So today is a day to celebrate this
wonderful writer who delighted and continues to delight children young and old with
his imagination and potent story-telling.
Happy Roald Dahl Day.
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