Included in this pack:

Biography – Roald Dahl’s life

List of Roald Dahl’s children’s stories and poetry books

Facts, quizzes and games

Competition – Phizz-Whizzing Words

Workshop – how to write a short story

YoungWriters Publishing children’s poetry for over two decades

Awesome author

Roald Dahl’s Fact Pack

Roald Dahl is the world’s most recognisable children’s storyteller, with over 21 books for children - including picture books, novels and poetry.

On the 13th September every year Roald Dahl’s birthday is celebrated all over the world.

This year we have created a fun and educational fact pack all about Roald Dahl for you to enjoy.

Please feel free to photocopy this pack or download it from www.youngwriters.co.uk

Phizz-Whizzing

Roald Dahl(1916-1990)Roald Dahl was born in Wales on 13th September 1916 to Norwegian parents. His father died when Dahl was 3 years old and he was raised by his mother in England. He had a fairly unhappy time at St. Peter’s Prep School where you could get beaten for small mistakes like leaving a football sock on the floor, burning the prefect’s toast at teatime or for forgetting to change into house-shoes at six o’clock.

After leaving school he worked for the Shell Oil Company based in Africa until the outbreak of World War II, when he signed up with the Royal Air Force. Unfortunately he was injured in action and eventually returned home as an invalid. He was then sent to Washington DC to work as an attaché where, almost by accident, he started his writing career. When he was interviewed for an article about his time in action he offered to write about his experiences. His piece was published in the Saturday Evening Post, who signed him up to write more articles.

In 1943 he wrote his first children’s book, The Gremlins, which was originally intended to be made into an animated film by Walt Disney. The film was not made and instead Dahl turned to writing adult fiction, not writing another children’s story until the 1960s.

By this time he was a father himself and had started making up stories to entertain his own

children Olivia, Tessa, Theo, Ophelia and Lucy. He went on to write 21 children’s books including Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Matilda, and The Witches, all of which have been made into films.

Roald Dahl died in November 1990. The Times called him ‘one of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation’.

‘If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.’

Roald Dahl

Children’s storiesThe Gremlins (1943), James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), The Magic Finger (1966), Fantastic Mr Fox (1970), Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), Danny, the Champion of the World (1975), The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The Twits (1980), George’s Marvellous Medicine (1981), The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), Boy (1984), The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985), Matilda (1988), Esio Trot (1990), The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991), The Minpins (1991)

Children’s poetryRevolting Rhymes (10 June 1982), Dirty Beasts (25 October 1984), Rhyme Stew (21 September 1989)

How many have

you read?

He did not start writing for

children until he had his own.

He wrote all of his children’s

stories in a small hut at the bottom

of his garden.

He was a fighter pilot

during World War II.

He wrote 21 books for children - including picture books, novels

and poetry collections - and over 50 stories for adults, most famously collected as Tales of

the Unexpected.

He based the grandmother in ‘The Three

Witches’ on his own mother.

He had two steel hips and six operations on his spine.

He wrote the screenplays for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Bond movie You

Only Live Twice.

He loved chocolate, but not chocolate cake or chocolate

ice cream.

He always wrote in pencil on

yellow paper.

He died on 23rd

November 1990.

He didn’t like going to the

cinema or theatre because his legs

were so long that he found the seats

uncomfortable.

James and the Giant Peach was

nearly called James and the Giant Cherry!

He used to announce that

meals were ready by shouting,

‘Nosebags on!’ or ‘Grub’s up!’

He was born on 13th September 1916 in Llandaff,

Cardiff.

Top factsHow many do you know?

Fantastic Mr Fox

James and The Giant Peach

Revolting Rhymes

Charlie and The Chocolate

Factory

The BFG

Matilda

I am the maker of music, the dreamer of dreams’.

Don’t gobblefunk around with your words’. I’d rather be fried alive and eaten by Mexicans’.

‘I’m right and you’re wrong, I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

How could I marry anyone who does that sort of thing for fun’.

Boggis, Bunce and Bean, one fat, one short, one lean’.

A

B

C

D

E

F

1

2

3

4

5

6

Match-upsMatch the quotes with the correct Roald Dahl

book. How many do you know?

Roald Dahl QuizCan your pupils answer these questions about Roald Dahl and his books? Using this fact pack see how much your pupils know (pupils

may need access to a computer or library for a few of the questions!).

When and where was Roald Dahl born?

During World War II what job did Roald Dahl do?

What did Roald Dahl use to write with and what did he write on?

In what year did Roald Dahl die?

What animals joined James in his Giant Peach?

What are the names of the wicked farmers in Fantastic Mr Fox?

What is the last name of Charlie in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory?

Who illustrated most of Roald Dahl’s books?

What job did Roald Dahl have after he left school?

What was Roald Dahl’s first book?

How tall was Roald Dahl?

What was the name of the house in which Roald Dahl lived?

What is the name of Matilda’s teacher’s toy doll?

How many children did he have?

How many children’s books did Roald Dahl write?

Answers to the activities can be found on the Teacher sheet.

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

13 14 15

Fizzlecump

Grumplewink

Bizzfizz

Wimplesquiffer

Fruggler

Squiffly-jumpsy

Phizz-Whizz

Crodscollop

Bophanger

Cronky

Bottle Wart

Flushbuckling

L A F F M S C N B G D I G S

G Z Z R W Q H M Q U V X N O

R E F F I U Q S E L P M I W

U Z P B B I Z Z F I Z Z L C

M Z K O V F Z H E A N B K P

P I R P L F K N U I R O C M

L H E H T L D Y F L F T U U

E W L A P Y O F Z O B T B C

W Z G N L J W C V Z J L H E

I Z G G G U P M S O E E S L

N I U E B M J G W D Y W U Z

K H R R U P Y C S K O A L Z

E P F J Q S Z A F Z S R F I

C R O N K Y Z I P D H T C F

‘Gobblefunk’ Wordsearch

As Roald Dahl was writing The BFG he started to brainstorm a new vocabulary for the story. He created a 238-word language that he named ‘Gobblefunk’!

Can you find the 12 Gobblefunk words below in the wordsearch?

Roald Dahl WorkshopThe key to writing like Roald Dahl is to think outside of the box, and to not be afraid to write a story that is

completely unique and imaginative! This workshop will help you write a short story that would make Roald proud!

Main characterFirstly, come up with your main character so they’re ready to take centre stage in your story - just like Roald Dahl created Matilda, James, Charlie and all the others. Create a factfile about your new character to help you get to know them a little better.

Don’t forget, as the writer, it is your job to help the reader visualise the character in their heads as they read.

How Roald Dahl’s factfile may have looked for the main character in Matilda:

Name Matilda Wormwood

Age 4 - 6

Appearance A very young, small girl. More to her than meets the eye!

PersonalityExceptionally intelligent, loves reading, amazing at sums. Brave and mischievous.

Family

Two silly parents who either pay no attention to Matilda, or are mean to her. They adore her brother Michael. Mr Wormwood is a crook mechanic and Mrs Wormwood plays bingo. They all love watching TV and hate reading.

Special Characteristics Supernatural powers!

SettingThink about an imaginative setting for your story. Remember that your story will only be around 250 words, so try to keep to just one setting. Next, write a short description of this place to help you when you come to writing your story. Think about what your setting might look, taste, sound, feel and smell like.

Example of how Roald Dahl may have described the main setting for James and the Giant Peach:

Setting: Inside a humungous peach.It looks orange and massive and bulging. The peach is so large, it catches the eyes of all the neighbours. It is shiny and round.It tastes like a peach! It is squashy and sweet in my mouth. I’d like to eat more! There’s peach juice dripping in my mouth. Yum!When you jump up and down on the peach, it makes a squelching noise like walking in sticky mud.The peach feels soft and warm on the outside, and a little furry too. Inside, the peach feels soft and squishy, like stroking an octopus or sticking a hand in a bowl of jelly. It is damp and murky.I can smell a fresh, sweet aroma that tingles my nostrils.

Supporting charactersRoald Dahl is also famous for the unique supporting characters in his stories. (Remember the large talking insects in James and the Giant Peach and the big, friendly giant from The BFG!)

So next, create a couple of fantastic supporting characters, remember, they can be anything or anyone! Write a very short description of your imaginative new creations whilst they are doing their favourite activity.

Example of how Roald Dahl may have written a description of the Ooompa-Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory doing their favourite activity:

They are tiny, odd-looking people with long golden hair, all in a big group. They are hand-painting pictures onto each individual blue sweet that’s part of a new range of sweets. They are singing, as they love to do whilst they work. They are working as a team, helping each other, as the sweets move along a conveyor belt deep in the belly of the chocolate factory. A snack of cacao beans, yum! Their favourite food. Oh - they’ve just spotted a naughty child who has been misbehaving in the factory; time to teach them a lesson ...

PlotNow it’s time to think about your plot. How does the main character you have created interact in your imaginative setting with your new secondary characters ... and what happens? Remember to think about your beginning, middle and end - and every good story has a conflict (a problem to be solved!) and then a resolution.

In Roald Dahl’s The Witches, a broad outline of the story could look like this:

Beginning: A boy lives with his grandma after his parents are killed. Middle: After being warned about witches, the boy stumbles upon their annual meeting. He learns they plot to kill all of England’s children. He is captured and turned into a mouse.End: The boy manages to turn the witches’ plans against them, and turn them all into mice instead.The conflict: The witches’ evil plans!The resolution: Stopping the plans and ridding the world of evil witches.

‘Meanings is not important,’ said the BFG. ‘I cannot be right all the time. Quite often I is left instead of right.’

Roald Dahl, The BFG

Let’s get started!It’s time to start writing your story, using all the ingredients you’ve just prepared.Here are some extra ideas to spice up your story:Roald Dahl loved to play with words in imaginative ways, even making up some of his own! Remember the vegetable from The BFG called the snozzcumber, the animals called crumpscoddles and the chocolate bar called Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight! Perhaps you could come up with your own cool words to use in your story!Mr Dahl also loved having a baddy in his stories, some real nasty pieces of work! Remember Miss Trunchbull, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker and who could forget those nightmare-inducing witches! Maybe your story will also have a villain ready to receive their comeuppance!

Good luck storytellers!

WordsOn the 13th September we celebrate the birthday of the world’s no.1 storyteller, Roald Dahl.

To celebrate this special day we want you to create your very own poem or short story (in 250 words) inspired by Roald Dahl. Selected writers will have their work published and also be in with

a chance of winning a Golden Family Ticket to The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre!

Phizz-Whizzing

Write your poem or story here (go onto another sheet if required)

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‘Phizz-Whizzing Words’ Entry Form

I would like to submit my work for Phizz-Whizzing Words.

Name Surname Age

Address

Postcode

Email

Send your entry to: ‘Phizz-Whizzing Words’, Young Writers, Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Peterborough PE2 9BFTel: 01733 890066 I 01733 898110 Fax: 01733 313524 Email: info@youngwriters.co.uk Web: www.youngwriters.co.uk

Closing Date: 31st October 2017YoungWriters

Answers to activities

Quiz answers1. 13th September 1916, in Llandaff, Cardiff

2. Boggis, Bunce and Bean

3. 6 feet, 6 inches

4. Fighter pilot

5. Bucket

6. Gipsy House

7. A Pencil on Yellow paper

8. Quentin Blake

9. Lizzie Doll

10. 1990

11. Shell Oil Company based in Africa

12. Five

13. Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, Earth worm, Spider and Glow worm

14. The Gremlins

15. 21

Match-upsA = 4

B = 5

C = 2

D = 6

E = 3

F = 1

Wordsearch

L A F F M S C N B G D I G S

G Z Z R W Q H M Q U V X N O

R E F F I U Q S E L P M I W

U Z P B B I Z Z F I Z Z L C

M Z K O V F Z H E A N B K P

P I R P L F K N U I R O C M

L H E H T L D Y F L F T U U

E W L A P Y O F Z O B T B C

W Z G N L J W C V Z J L H E

I Z G G G U P M S O E E S L

N I U E B M J G W D Y W U Z

K H R R U P Y C S K O A L Z

E P F J Q S Z A F Z S R F I

C R O N K Y Z I P D H T C F