Roald Dahl

Children's Literature - Joyce Rice

Author Roald Dahl began his life in the United Kingdom in 1916, in the midst of the First World War. As a child, Roald loved to listen to his mother read stories. He kept a diary of his adventures and hid it in a tree where no one could discover it and read it without his permission. As a young man, he joined the air force to become a pilot and fight in World War II. When his plane was shot down and he was injured, he decided to leave his home country and go to the United States. Roald began his writing career as a newspaper journalist writing about his life in the United Kingdom and about his plane crash. Most authors begin their careers by writing about things that happen to them or about people and places that they know. In 1943, Dahl wrote a story for children called The Gremlins and the Disney Company made a movie from his book. Although Dahl wrote many stories for adults, he is best known for the stories he wrote for young people. When his stories would need illustrations, he would call on Quentin Blake to add pictures. Blake's pictures would be done in pen and ink, sometimes in color with watercolors. These squiggly lined illustrations appealed to young readers who could use their imaginations to expand the images. Dahl wrote about his love of chocolate in his story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This brief biography with resource pages and a bold-type glossary deserves a place in elementary biography collections. This series, called "Author Biographies" includes titles about A. A. Milne, Beatrice Potter, Dr. Seuss, and Maurice Sendak as well as Roald Dahl. It is a part of the "Read and Learn" collection of nonfiction books by this publisher for young readers. Reviewer: Joyce Rice

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1—These short biographies introduce famous children's book authors. A question at the top of each spread is answered by a few sentences below. The texts briefly cover the authors' early lives, books and common themes, outside interests, and, most importantly, what spurred them to begin writing. Guillain also dedicates a spread to the illustrations (and illustrators, where applicable). The large pictures depict important settings, photos of the authors and their books, and movie stills. However, the lack of clear captions greatly reduces their effectiveness, and the time lines are too brief to be useful. While they are too short for reports, these books might spur young readers to seek more detailed accounts of these authors' lives. The "About the Author" series (Rosen/PowerKids Pr) is a better choice.