Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales on September 13th 1916.
His parents were Norwegian, and called Harald and Sofie.
He went to Repton school, in Derbyshire, and left school in 1933.
His first job was in Africa, with the Shell Oil Company.
In the second world war he fought as a fighter pilot, and was badly injured when his plane crashed.
After the war he worked in America, and soon started writing stories.
His very first children's book, written in 1943 was called The Gremlins.
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the President of the USA liked it so much he was invited to the House and became friends with the President, Franklin D Roosevelt.
From 1945 until his death, he lived at Gipsy House, in Buckinghamshire, where he wrote his famous children's books.
He died in hospital in Oxford, on November 23rd, 1990.

Roald Dahl was very big. He was tall, even though he stooped as he got older. He really did look like a Big Friendly Giant. He was not a snappy dresser. He loved to wear bright coloured trousers, often red, and sandals, and lamb's wool cardigans which nearly always had large holes in the elbows!

As well as being Britain's number one favourite writer, Roald Dahl was Chairman of Readathon, the UK's national sponsored reading event, from 1988 until his death in 1990. Brough Girling, director of Readathon, tells us about his old friend.

Things He Said

Treasure Island would be a good kids' book if you cut out about half of it.


To children, all grown-ups are like giants, who tell them what to do all the blooming time!


The life of a writer is absolute hell compared to the life of a businessman.


I believe that the writer for children must be a jokey sort of fellow.


He was certainly that!

His Favourite Things

Colour Yellow

Food Grouse, lobster and chocolate. After lunch he always had a bar of chocolate and smarties for pudding

Smell Bacon frying

Book of his own The B F G probably. He really enjoyed inventing the wacky way the giant speaks.

Illustrator Quentin Blake of course!

Books and authors when he was a child Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome and C. S. Forester's Hornblower Books

His Least Favourite Things

People with colds!

People who weren't honest.

Christmas. He preferred Easter - perhaps it was all that chocolate!

Holidays. The only holidays he really liked were when he went to Norway as a child.

Sitting still! He didn't like the cinema, theatre or concert halls, mainly because the seats and leg room were too small.

Readathon (registered charity number in England and Wales 1130309)
The Parsonage, St Mary's, Chalford, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 8QB