Roald Dahl

Description

Roald Dahl is an icon in children’s literature, a name synonymous with zany characters, roguish humor, and sheer imagination. His books are predominantly about young heroes who outwit wicked or nasty adults with genius cleverness and pluck. Here are summaries of some of his best-selling works:

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
Plot: There is the storyline of a little poor boy named Charlie Bucket who happens to win one of five golden tickets that enable him to tour the magical Chocolate Factory owned by Willy Wonka. Some scenes inside this place have come out the imagination, rather than reality as kids are presented with outstanding creations and strange, sometimes dangerous, situations. Finally, good and humility conquer pride.
Themes: Greed, kindness, and imagination.
2. Matilda (1988)
Plot: Highly intelligent girl, Matilda Wormwood from a neglecting family. She also discovers to have special telekinetic powers and with them, fights against the horrific headmistress of school, Miss Trunchbull but shares friendship with good-hearted teacher, Miss Honey.
Themes: Empowerment, intelligence, good vs. evil.
3. James and the Giant Peach (1961)
Plot: After the death of his parents, poor boy James Henry Trotter is left alone with two terrible aunts. But his life changes when he discovers a massive magical peach that had inside other talking insect friends and they all faced an unusual adventure.
Themes: Adventure, Friendship, Overcoming Despair
4. The BFG 1982
Plot: Sophie, an orphan girl, befriends Big Friendly Giant (BFG), unlike the rest, who does not eat children. Together they plot to stop the other giants from their child-eating rampages and save the world.
Themes: friendship, courage, imagination
5. The Witches (1983)
Plot: A young boy and his grandmother uncover the witchcraft presence among people. Witches plot to transform children into mice. The boy is turned into a mouse and battles with the Grand High Witch, leader of the witches.
Themes: Courage, transformation, between right and wrong.
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970)
Plot: Mr. Fox is a clever and resourceful fox who outwits three wicked and wealthy farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, that try to catch him. Mr. Fox devises a plan to steal food from the farmers to feed his family.
Themes: Wit, survival, teamwork.
7. The Twits (1980)
Plot: Mr. and Mrs. Twit are a nasty, cruel couple who play mean tricks on each other and capture birds to put in their pies. Eventually, the animals they’ve mistreated turn the tables on them.
Themes: Cruelty, karma, humour.
8. George’s Marvellous Medicine (1981)
Plot: George concocts a magical medicine to get rid of his cranky, nastily disposed grandmother. The potion makes her grow and shrink in rather grotesque ways, with comedic results.
Themes: Rebellion, creativity, family relationships.
9. Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
Plot: Danny lives with his father, who has a secret passion for poaching pheasants from the wealthy landowner, Mr. Victor Hazell. Together they plot to poach all of Hazell’s pheasants at once.
Themes: Father and son bond, adventure, class conflict
10. Esio Trot (1990)
Plot: Mr. Hoppy is a widower who loves Mrs. Silver but does nothing about it because she is worried about her pet tortoise. He plans an elaborate scheme to make Mrs. Silver think that her tortoise is getting bigger by the use of a code called “Esio Trot,” which is “tortoise” spelled backwards.
Themes include love, creativity and patience.
Such is the whimsical rather often dark approach to morality in Roald Dahl’s stories. His villains are always caricatured and exaggeratedly evil, while his protagonists, usually children, are known to find some foible to exploit in the villain’s design. As a consequence, his books remain favorites in the marketplace both among children and adults, being enthralled by a mix of fantastic fantasy.