This month, we're featuring an author whose short stories are known for their unexpected endings and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour (happy April fool's, anyone?). Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot, and screenwriter born on September 13, 1916 in Wales to Norwegian parents. He was named after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen, a national hero in Norway at the time.
Dahl spoke Norwegian at home with his parents and his sisters Astri, Alfhild and Else. Weeks later after seven-year-old Astri died from appendicitis in 1920 while Roald was three years old.
With the option of returning to Norway to live with relatives, Dahl's mother decided to remain in Wales because her husband had wished to have their children educated in British schools, which he considered the world's best.
Roald served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults and became one of the world's best-selling authors. Roald has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".
His notable works which were often written with more intelligence than are other books for children include but are not limited to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, BFG, The Twits, and George's Marvellous Medicine. While many picture books are very sentimental, his were not and are instead quite serious at times. He died on November 23, 1990 at the age of 74 of a blood disease called myelodysplastic syndrome.
