Here is what another sixth grader of our Feeling Bookerish workshop, the cherubic Ishita, has to say about her favourite author…
“Did you ever ponder on how Roald Dahl got ideas for his books ? And before becoming an author , what was his life like? Well, all his ideas for books came from real-life incidents or stories he heard from his grandparents. Before becoming an author, he:
- Wrote a James Bond film
- Was utterly hopeless at English in school
- Was a champion boxer
- Loved practical jokes-the nastier the better
- Was a Fighter Pilot in the Second World War and
- Was a spy
Here are some more interesting facts about Roald Dahl :
- Buckingham Palace once rang up Roald to ask him if he’d like to become Roald Dahl OBE (Order of the British Empire). He refused it because he wanted a knighthood so he could be called Sir Roald.
- His love of Chocolate led him to write his book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Remembering his wife, Patricia Neal’s stroke , he wrote his book The BFG . It was because his wife usually spoke nonsense during her time of recovery. The BFG also spoke in such a way. In the book, for example, Scrumdidlyumptious meant tasty, while Chiddlers meant small children and so on
- During his school days, Roald though that the next door sweetshop owner, Mrs. Prattchett was a witch. So, one day he took a dead mouse and put in the jar of Gobstoppers when she looked away. This was the inspiration for his book, The Witches”
Crumbs on my Notebook 