The man with the magic fingers

Roald Dahl’s children’s fiction may be unapologetically dark and twisted, but they are unfailingly entertaining.

Roald Dahl, whose 104th birthday is today, is one of the most popular children’s authors of all time — and I had absolutely no idea. I knew of him though — I’d been a fan of his short stories ever since I read ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ in my teens and revelled in the deliciously macabre twists in his tales. So, imagine my horror when I discovered that what Roald Dahl is actually known for, is children’s literature!

I read his work for children and found that it was more or less a mild version of his fiction for adults — dark and unapologetically twisted. I admit to squirming a bit at first — but as I thought about it, I realised that the stories cater perfectly to children. The stories are highly imaginative and fanciful. They are disgusting. They are violent. There are elaborate, improbable schemes that only children can come up with, which adults are sure to dismiss as impossible. But, in the books, they work spectacularly! Besides, adults who are cruel to children get their comeuppance very satisfactorily. In fact, the adults in his stories are usually vile and clueless, while children are calm, logical and intelligent.

From a child’s perspective, what’s not to like? Especially the way he turns words to his advantage — not just through his crisp and fast-paced narrative, but also with the weaving in of the delightful words he makes up. Whizzpoppers. Frobscottle. Gobblefunk. Biffsquiggle. Such Scrumdiddlyumptious words!

Which is the best Roald Dahl? Though you’ll never know which your favourite is until you’ve read them all, here’s a start:

For the youngest readers: The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me is a gentle story that can be a soft introduction to Dahl’s world.

The Magic Finger, The Twits and Fantastic Mr Fox can follow — at age 6 or so. Depending on the nature of the child in question, an adult might want to read the books with/to the child.

You can follow these with the bigger books, the more popular ones — they’ve been made into multiple well-loved movies too: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and BFG (my daughter’s favourite.)

I particularly like Boy and Going Solo — the two volumes that make up Dahl’s autobiography. Tweens and older children (and adults) will probably appreciate these better than the younger ones — especially because reading this, you can tell where he got the inspiration for his stories. Fans will agree that each book has its own appeal, especially paired with Quentin Blake’s characteristic shaky, squiggly illustrations.

And if you’re an older teen or an adult and if you like wicked, spine-chilling stories, check out Dahl’s short story collections — they’re not that difficult to find — clueless libraries and bookstores put those books in the same shelf as his children’s books!

The author got a master’s degree in energy engineering and worked in the IT industry until her daughter dragged out the writer lurking inside her. She has written eight books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com

GobbledyBook is a fortnightly column that gives you a peek into the wondrous world of children’s books. Hop on! Or as Alice did, plunge into the rabbit hole.