Roald Dahl

branie

Anyone here read his books when they were kids?

Tabnabs

BFG, ah the happy memories.

Ruu_Old

Fantastic Mr.Fox and James and the Giant Peach.

The Twits had me in stitches for a long long time.:D

Mint Sauce

BFG, the twits, danny champion of the world, etc

happy days

c - 13

Still think that Georges marvelous medicine is one of my favorites.

I found his life stories (Boy and in particular Going Solo) tough enough reading though.

I should really consider reading some of his adult books actually. I'd love to see what theyre like.

trout

My kids are going through a Roald Dahl phase at the minute ... as a nipper, I had not realised how dark some of the stories are.

I was a big fan of "Tales of the Unexpected" too ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075592/

stovelid

When you grow up and have children of your own do please remember something important: A stodgy parent is no fun at all. What a child wants and deserves is a parent who is SPARKY.

c - 13

trout wrote: »

My kids are going through a Roald Dahl phase at the minute ... as a nipper, I had not realised how dark some of the stories are.

I was a big fan of "Tales of the Unexpected" too ... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075592/

Was there another show like that called Stephen Kings Tales of the Unexpected ? I was a bit young to remember the Dahl one but I was full sure that there was a show with the same name associated with Stephen King but cant seem to find any information associated with it (It used to be on at 8PM on either RTE/NETWORK 2 on a SUnday night if that helps )

Jesus Wept

Deleted User wrote: »

The Twits had me in stitches for a long long time.:D

heh I remember seeing a play of The Twits up north, back in the day.

Predhead

His kids books were great.

Read Fantastic Mr. Fox, BFG, Matilda, George's Marvellous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and of course The Twits. Loved every one of them!

trout

c - 13 wrote: »

Was there another show like that called Stephen Kings Tales of the Unexpected ? I was a bit young to remember the Dahl one but I was full sure that there was a show with the same name associated with Stephen King but cant seem to find any information associated with it (It used to be on at 8PM on either RTE/NETWORK 2 on a SUnday night if that helps )

According to wikipedia there was a US version of the show, introduced by a chap called John Houseman.

Not sure if that's what you remember ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_%28TV_series%29

c - 13

I've been thinking about this but I think I may have been wrong - It might have been called Stephen Kings Amazing Stories or something like that ?

It may have been that, but I dont remember there being a narrator at the start of it ?

c - 13

Hah ! I found it, the reason I couldnt find anything was because it was "Stephen Speilberg's Amazing Stories"

Cheers for the help though.

Its available on DVD too, oh to order or not to order ....

bluedolphin

Favourite book ever (to this day) is Matilda. It's enchanting!

Seonad

There hasnt been a children's author to match him. Excellent stories-read them all as a child. His adult short stories aren't too bad either:)

_blank_

Seonad wrote: »

There hasnt been a children's author to match him. Excellent stories-read them all as a child.

Agreed.

Loved all of his books, and the illustrations too, Quentin Blake caught the atmosphere of the stories perfectly, imo.

Seonad wrote: »

His adult short stories aren't too bad either:)

Henry Sugar is a brilliant story. And there was another story in that book about a fella who rolled smokes.

Fantastic writer was Dahl.

mental07

Brilliant books, brilliant author. He really brought the stories alive! My own favourite is The Witches - Formula 86 Delayed Action MouseMaker!!

Also, the illustration of the Grand High Witch frightened the sh*t out of me!!

_blank_

mental07 wrote: »

Also, the illustration of the Grand High Witch frightened the sh*t out of me!!

seamus

c - 13 wrote: »

I found his life stories (Boy and in particular Going Solo) tough enough reading though.

Yep, absolutely incredible life though - the wealth of experiences. I'm sure they were all Dahl'd up to some extent, but even so. I remember being 12 or 13 reading them and thinking, "This guy just had the worst childhood ever!". Obviously it wasn't that bad, just a hell of a lot worse than mine

xzanti

My 3rd class teacher used to read us his books, my personal favourite was The Twits

mental07

DesF wrote: »

It was more this one I was thinking of! :

rainbowtrout

read all of his books, loved them all, especially the twits, henry sugar collection, matilda

great stuff

gucci

Dont think anyone mentioned it but there was another great one called esio trot, where the guy made up a backwards rhyme to make his neighbours tortoise bigger in order to romance her!
My very first ever day of school I remember the teacher reading the start of BFG for us and I was hooked!!


Apparently he hated kids?

fonpokno

bluedolphin wrote: »

Favourite book ever (to this day) is Matilda. It's enchanting!

+100000000000000000000

aww i wanted to be her! roald dahl is just amazing. i still read all his children's books, they're timeless.

chuci

esio trot was brilliant, the giraffe the peli and me was the first one that was read/bought for me loved it, that and the magic finger. i cried for the BFG made me so sad the film of that is brilliant. Georges marvellous medicine and fantastic mr fox were read over and over again could still nearly recite them. was it going solo he wrote about himself and growing up where he had to get his adenoids/ tonsils out brilliant. cant recommend a better writer for kids never been equalled.Quentin Blake was brilliant at capturing the stories too.

c - 13

chuci wrote: »

esio trot was brilliant, the giraffe the peli and me was the first one that was read/bought for me loved it, that and the magic finger. i cried for the BFG made me so sad the film of that is brilliant. Georges marvellous medicine and fantastic mr fox were read over and over again could still nearly recite them. was it going solo he wrote about himself and growing up where he had to get his adenoids/ tonsils out brilliant. cant recommend a better writer for kids never been equalled.Quentin Blake was brilliant at capturing the stories too.

No, that one was Boy. Going Solo was the sequel to that where he was an Adult.

WomanSkirtFan8

mental07 wrote: »

Brilliant books, brilliant author. He really brought the stories alive! My own favourite is The Witches - Formula 86 Delayed Action MouseMaker!!

Also, the illustration of the Grand High Witch frightened the sh*t out of me!!

Have to agree! The Witches scared me too when I first read it as a kid. Just the stories about the five children who mysteriously disappeared and also just the very idea that the witches all wanted to turn all the children of England into mice just to then basically either stamp on them or get them caught in mouse traps really struc a chord with me as a kid. Pretty horrific stuff! But its great that the witches all get their just deserts in the end.

WomanSkirtFan8

branie wrote: »

Anyone here read his books when they were kids?

Yep! Read Fantastic Mr.Fox, The Witches, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator, George's Marvellous Medicine, Danny The Champion Of The World.

Dahl was the only author whose stories kept me really engrossed in and held my attention when I was a kid. Brilliant author! One of the best ever!

whiskeyman

I read very little as a child, but one book I loved was 'Boy', his autobiography.
It really got my into a love for autobiographys and non fiction in general.

thejaguar

I read absolutely everything I could get my hands on by Roald Dahl as a kid.

BFG and Witches were my favourites - loved the idea of their square toes. i used to keep an eye out for ladies with big nostrils and gloves wherever I went. Especially if they were wearing pointy shoes....