by Roald Dahl
Mama ~ This is what Roald Dahl called his mother—Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg Dahl. She was an incredible woman and the most important influence in Roald’s life. She was widowed when he was only three years old and she was pregnant with her fifth child. From then on, she brought up her children single-handed, taking them to Tenby in Pembrokeshire every Easter and Norway every summer. She inspired one of the loveliest characters in The Witches—the grandmother. Sofie was a wonderful storyteller and had an amazing memory for detail. (See Family Tree.)
M is for Maze
Master forger ~ Roald Dahl once painted a copy of a Cézanne landscape and hung it on his sitting-room wall. It fools everyone but the real art experts.
Matilda ~ This book might have been very different. In Roald Dahl’s original draft, the main character was a boy called Jimmy. Then he became Matilda, who was a wicked girl who died from exhaustion when she used her powers to lift a truck off a minibus. Like his readers, Roald was delighted with the final version of Matilda, which had been an idea for twenty years before it became a finished book.
Maze ~ There’s an amazing maze in the garden of Roald Dahl’s home, with surprises at every turn. Some of the best lines from his books—chosen by family, friends, and those who worked with him—are carved into slabs of York stone dotted throughout the maze. Here are a couple of quotations in the maze:
M is for Maze
Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
“I live with a brat in a high-rise flat,
So how in the world would I know?”
“I know full well my tummy’s bulging
But oh how I adore indulging.”
Meanest man alive ~ Roald Dahl always used to say that the meanest man alive was the kind of person who would buy a turkey at Christmas, cut it in two, and freeze half for Easter.
Meccano ~ When Roald Dahl was given a Meccano set one Christmas, he immediately put his thinking cap on. He soon had the bright idea of making a machine that would drop a waterfall onto passersby. He built this mischievous machine with great care and it worked splendidly—but unfortunately, his two lady victims were not amused. Result? The Meccano set was confiscated for the rest of the holiday.
M is for Alert!
The Minpins ~ Although he loved Quentin Blake’s work, Roald Dahl realized that this picture book needed a totally different style of illustration. A competition was held among several illustrators and it was Patrick Benson’s work that Roald liked most. His beautifully detailed pictures suit the story perfectly.
Missing! ~ Roald Dahl ruthlessly chopped two revolting children out of the final version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Marvin Prune was a conceited boy, while Miranda Mary Piker was allowed to do anything she wanted. (Apart from appear in one of Roald’s books, it would seem.)
Mole alert! ~ Roald Dahl didn’t attack the moles that dared to create molehills all over his garden. He deafened them instead. Here’s how he did it:
M is for Mole alert!
First, he buried an empty wine bottle near a molehill, leaving the neck sticking out.
When the wind blew across the bottle, it made a humming sound that went on. . .
3.. . . and on. . .
4.. . . and on. . .
5.. . . until the noise drove the moles so crazy that they moved out of Roald’s garden! Luckily there were no neighbors around Gipsy House.
Mozart ~ Dahl was fascinated to learn that the eighteenth-century classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was already composing music when he was only five years old. This was one of the things that made him realize that adults often underestimate children. So he created the brilliant Matilda, who taught herself to read when she was just three years old.
M is for Mushrooming
Mushrooming ~ Mushroom-picking was one of Roald Dahl’s hobbies in later life. He loved to go out early in the morning, in his gumboots and with his dog Chopper for company, to gather mushrooms, hidden like jewels among the cowpats in the local field. (Hope he didn’t get them mixed up.)
Did You Know?
In France, you can take your mushrooms to the pharmacist to make sure they’re not poisonous. (Do not try this yourself!)
M is for Mushrooming
Liccy Dahl’s Recipe for Mushrooms on Toast
Fry VERY fresh mushrooms with lots of butter.
Pop them on to a hot piece of toast.
Drizzle the juices on top of the mushrooms and toast and sprinkle them with a little salt.
Eat at once.
Mmm. . .
Music ~ Roald Dahl liked listening to music by Beethoven in the morning—he hoped some of the great composer’s genius would rub off on him before he started work.
Did You Know?
Beethoven composed some of his best work when he was deaf.
M is for Mystery motorcyclist
Mystery motorcyclist ~ As a daredevil seventeen-year-old, Roald Dahl bought an old motorbike (a 500cc Ariel) and drove it to Repton School for his last term. He kept it a few miles away from the school and—disguised in a huge scarf and goggles—roared around the lanes whenever he could get out. Not a single teacher or prefect recognized him. He once said, “It gave me an amazing feeling of winged majesty and of independence.”
Neal, Patricia ~ The Hollywood actress became Roald Dahl’s first wife in Trinity Church in New York in July 1953. It was such a hot day that Roald ripped out the lining of his suit to make it cooler. Patricia won an Academy Award—an Oscar—for her role in the film Hud (1963), in which she starred with Paul Newman. She and Roald were married for thirty years, had five children together, and divorced in 1983. (See Family Tree.)
Newspaper and string ~ Roald Dahl was a great present-giver, always finding just the right gift for the right person. He wrapped his marvelous presents in newspaper and tied them with string. He also sometimes “gift-wrapped” presents in flowerpots!
New York City ~ Roald Dahl lived in New York after the Second World War. He spent his time working on short stories for adults, trying hard to become established as a writer. It was a place he came to hate when his four-month-old son was hit in his stroller by a taxi.
N is for Nose
Nitpicking ~ Roald Dahl enjoyed research and made sure that his facts were spot on. Howiver, he woz a tirrible speller.
Norway ~ Both Roald Dahl’s parents were from Norway. They spoke Norwegian to each other, and Roald and his sisters learned Norwegian before English. Roald visited Norway many times and took his own family there for holidays. They spent their time boating, fishing, snorkeling, and visiting a never-ending stream of Norwegian relatives. Do you know what this says? Jeg er en Roald Dahl vifte.
Nose ~ Dahl’s nose had a rough life. It was nearly chopped off in an accident during his very first car journey. Then it was bashed in when his plane crash-landed during the Second World War. After the crash, the surgeon rebuilt his nose in the style of the terribly dashing silent-film star Rudolf Valentino. Ask a really old person—they might remember who he was.
N is for Nose
“The ear, nose, and throat man pulled my nose out of the back of my head, and shaped it, and now it looks just as before except that it’s a little bent about.”
—ROALD DAHL
Nurses ~ Roald Dahl thought nurses were wonderful, and made up lovely nicknames for all the ones who helped him on his many stays in hospital.
Official photographer ~ Roald Dahl took the official photos on an expedition to Newfoundland when he was young. Look out for these splendid black-and-white photos at the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre! He also took some good photographs when he was in Africa.
Oil ~ When Roald Dahl finished school in 1934 he turned down his mother’s suggestion that he should go to the university because he desperately wanted to see the world. His first job was with the Shell Oil Company. After training in London and then selling oil in Somerset to old ladies, he was sent to work in the mysterious and exotic country of Tanganyika
(now part of Tanzania) in East Africa—a dream come true.
O is for Olivanas
Olivanas ~ This was a treat that Roald Dahl learned from his mother and used to make for his own children. You can enjoy it, too. Just mash up a banana with a few drops of olive oil. For some reason, the olive oil heightens the flavor of the banana and turns it into a delicious syrupy paste. If you’re feeling very wicked, finish off your Olivana with a dollop of whipped cream. Yum-yum!
Olivia ~ Born in 1955, Roald Dahl’s first child, Olivia, was very imaginative. She said that she carried an invisible imp on each shoulder—one good and one bad. Tragically, she caught measles and died when she was just seven years old—there was no vaccination program at the time. She was buried in Little Missenden and Roald never got over her death. He created an alpine garden on her grave that contained about 120 plant species, and he visited it regularly. (See Family Tree.)
Onions ~ These were Roald Dahl’s favorite vegetable. He liked to grow giant onions because he enjoyed their special mild-sweet taste, especially when they were raw. The biggest onions he ever grew were a variety called Robinson’s Mammoth Improved Onion, which weighed an average of 3 pounds each! These monsters were perfect for making onion rings and onion soup. Sometimes there is an onion left on Roald’s grave.
O is for Ooh la la!
Ooh la la! ~ Two of the best things about France, according to Roald Dahl, were the food and the wine. His favorite French dishes were foie gras (a very rich goose liver pâté), mussels, and snails!
Random Roald Fact
His soup had to be piping hot. He hated cold or lukewarm soup and would noisily complain about it to waiters, much to the embarrassment of his children.
O is for Ooops!
Ooops! ~ Roald Dahl enjoyed cleaning up old paintings in his shed. This involved gently brushing the surface of the painting to remove the dirt, but once he accidentally cleaned off the painting as well as the dirt. Let’s hope it wasn’t a valuable work of art!
Openings ~ Roald Dahl made sure readers were entranced by his stories from the very first page. Can you guess which books these first sentences belong to?
What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays.
Not far from where I live there is a queer old empty wooden house standing all by itself on the side of the road.
In fairy tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks.
Until he was four, James Henry Trotter had a happy life.
“Grab them by the throat with the first sentence.”
—ROALD DAHL
O is for Orchids
Operations ~ Roald Dahl had a great respect for doctors and went under the surgeon’s knife many times for operations on his adenoids, his nose, his hips, and his back.
Ophelia ~ Roald Dahl’s daughter Ophelia was born in 1964 and was soon nicknamed Don Mini by her brother. Just like Danny in Danny the Champion of the World, she learned to drive when she was very young. Roald taught her in the orchard of Gipsy House when she was only ten years old. A few months later, the mischievous Ophelia borrowed the car, drove to the local village, and then broke down. When she phoned her father to be rescued, he was more annoyed that she’d interrupted his writing than by her underage driving. (See Family Tree.)
Orchids ~ Roald Dahl was an orchid expert and even won a gold medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. He enjoyed pottering around his orchid house in the garden at Gipsy House, which is now the snooker room. He loved orchids for their perfection.
O is for Ordinary
Ordinary ~ Roald Dahl always said it was a terrible mistake to meet writers you admired, for in the flesh they were bound to be very ordinary. He told his young fans that he was ordinary and said it was much better to imagine a rather unusual, romantic figure with a red beard, dressed perhaps in a flowing green cloak—with magic in his fingers. Roald was never ordinary.
Orphanage ~ The building that inspired the orphanage in The BFG still stands in the High Street in Great Missenden. It is now the site of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
Random Roald Fact
The young Roald Dahl started speaking late, at about three years old, and his first words, in Norwegian, were “Papa’s slippers are under the bed.”
Papa ~ Roald Dahl never really knew his father since, tragically, he died of pneumonia in 1920, when Roald was only three. Harald Dahl came from a small town near Oslo in Norway and, from humble beginnings, he built up a prosperous shipbroking business (shipbrokers refuel and supply ships when they come into port). It was often said that Harald died of a broken heart after the death of his daughter Astri two months before. Roald always missed his father and tried to be the sort of parent his children would like and trust. He knew that the best parents were sparky, just like the father in Danny the Champion of the World. (See Family Tree.)
Pea soup ~ At Roald Dahl’s boarding school, older pupils were allowed to cook for themselves. Here’s Roald’s recipe for how NOT to cook pea soup:
P is for Pea soup
Place can of soup in front of the fire to heat.
Leave there for far too long, preferably until the can is bulging.
Hold an umbrella in front of you while piercing the can.
Stand well back and watch boiling-hot soup spurt out of the can and all over the room.
WARNING!
Under no circumstances should you try this yourself!
Peach tree ~ A peach tree that Roald Dahl planted in his garden at Gipsy House didn’t produce a single peach until the film of James and the Giant Peach was premiered in London. Then it grew just one perfect peach and died the following year.
P is for Poaching
The Perfect Murder ~ Roald Dahl’s idea for the perfect murder was to bury an oyster in the garden until it went bad and then serve it with eleven others to the intended victim. Terrible food poisoning would follow and result in death—a death that would simply be put down to one bad shellfish. Never to be tried in real life!
Pesto ~ In 2003, a new dog moved into Gipsy House—a tiny Jack Russell puppy called Pesto. He is Chopper’s great-great-great-great-great grandson. Roald Dahl would have loved him.
Photographers ~ Roald Dahl hated having his picture taken but loved taking photos himself.
Piggy ~ This was the affectionate nickname given to Roald Dahl’s cook in the house he shared with some other men who worked for Shell in Africa. Piggy’s best recipe was baked potatoes stuffed with crabmeat. Roald and his friends found it so delicious they ate it for supper twice a week.
Poaching ~ Roald Dahl’s local butcher had a passion for poaching and told Roald how to hunt animals that lived on other people’s land. Roald found the idea thrilling but never caught a pheasant himself, unlike Danny and his father in Danny the Champion of the World. And his incredibly illegal research led to a best-selling children’s book.
P is for Poaching
Bad: Poaching animals in the woods in the dead of night.
Good: Poaching eggs in hot water.
Potions ~ Roald Dahl mixed marvelous bedtime drinks for his children and called them “witches’ potions.” They contained ingredients such as canned peaches blended with milk and pink, blue, or green food coloring. Maybe this is where the idea came from for George’s wicked potions.
Presidents and prime ministers ~ Just as Willy Wonka and Charlie and his family met the president of the United States in Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, so too did Roald Dahl. He was invited to dinner at the White House because the president’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, liked his Gremlins story and read it to her grandchildren. Roald was shaking with excitement on his first visit, but he had such a good time that he was invited back. He got to know Franklin Roosevelt better when he stayed at the president’s country house, Hyde Park. Roald also played poker with Harry Truman (who later became the U.S. president) and met British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to whom he gave a copy of Going Solo.
P i
s for Private
Private ~ No one was allowed to look at Roald Dahl’s diary. At school he kept it in his lunchbox, which was always locked. At home he hid it inside a cookie tin, which was inside a toiletries bag, which was hung from the highest branch of a huge chestnut tree at the bottom of the garden. He climbed the tree every day—unless it was pouring with rain—to write in privacy. On wet days, he kept his thoughts to himself.
Random Roald Fact
He didn’t like going to the cinema or theater. Because he was so tall, he found the seats incredibly uncomfortable.
Questions ~ Roald Dahl’s readers were often so excited when they met him that they were far too nervous to speak, never mind ask a question. His wife would start them off by asking Roald something like, “How many grapefruit did you eat for breakfast this morning?” One question that left him speechless was, “What happened to Thwaites (his friend with ratitis in Boy)?”
Quiz ~ So, how much do YOU know about Roald Dahl? Are you a REAL fan? Put your thinking cap on and see how many of this A–Z of quiz questions you can answer. The answer to Question A begins with an A, the answer to Question B begins with a B—and so on. But beware! You might find some of the answers in this book, but you won’t find all of them here. You might have to delve into Roald Dahl’s actual books to complete the quiz. . . .
