Roald Dahl Day

Another perk of working at a bookstore is discovering (accidentally) holidays devoted to your favorite childhood authors. (Ok so it's only happened once so far, but I'm sure I could make it happen again.)

I lifted a box of books the other day revealing a small sticker proclaiming 'Roald Dahl Day' and was instantly transported to two places simultaneously (in my mind): sitting on the couch listening to my mom read The BFG to my brother and me, and standing in my classroom last year screaming the part of the Grand High Witch in a thick European (German maybe?) accent from The Witches. Both memories left me smiling (for different reasons--the first because of the love and laughter associated with it and the second because of the relief and lack of stress associated with no longer having to teach).

Today I finally checked out the website for Roald Dahl Day (http://www.roalddahlday.info/Default.aspx) and was disappointed to find out that it might not be celebrated this year (the designated date in the past has been September 13). This disappointment was compounded by my realization that Roald Dahl Day is celebrated in England.

So I've decided to celebrate Roald Dahl Day right here and now by sharing (ok so just a more exciting way to say 'listing') all of my favorite Roald Dahl books. For anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of reading him, he wrote many short books that can be read in less than an hour (I've placed a ^ symbol next to these titles) and are a great way of getting a taste for his unique style without having to make the investment that his longer books require. Roald Dahl also wrote short stories for adults, but anyone who is hoping to read a grown-up version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be sorely disappointed--his adult stories are much darker and lacking the whimsy of his tales for children. That is not to say they are not entertaining or worthwhile--although disturbing at times, his adult stories are clever and infused with a magical realism reminiscent of The Metamorphosis by Kafka.

Roald Dahl Classics:
James and the Giant Peach
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
^Fantastic Mr. Fox
Danny, the Champion of the World
^The Enormous Crocodile
^The Twits
^George's Marvelous Medicine
^Revolting Rhymes
The BFG
The Witches
^The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
^Esio Trot
^The Magic Finger
Matilda
Boy
Going Solo

Note: this is not an exhaustive list, it includes only those titles I have read