You may be curious about the name of my blog. Unless of course, you were actually googling the phrase "Dahl's Chickens", in which case, you totally get the reference and are now wondering how you ending up on some random chick's blog.
Dahl's Chickens comes from the children's book, The BFG, by Roald Dahl.
“I is reading it hundreds of times,' the BFG said.
'And I is still reading it and teaching new words to myself and how to
write them. It is the most scrumdiddlyumptious story.'
Sophie took the book out of his hand. 'Nicholas Nickleby,' she read aloud.
'By Dahl's Chickens,' the BFG said.”
If you are thinking to yourself "What book by who?" Roald Dahl is also the author of the classic children's books Charlie and the Chocolate, Matilda, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, and so many more. I am not just a book lover, I am book obsessed and Dahl is the author who made me fall in love with books and reading. I even have a picture of Matilda and a quote from the book tattooed on my leg.
There are a lot of movies based on Dahl's books and if that is your only exposure to his work you need head to the library or the bookstore today. I don't care if you are single, married, a parent, a child, or an octogenarian. Dahl's witty and magical stories transcend differences like age.
If you have a busy schedule, a long drive scheduled in the future, or are just looking for a different experience there are a number of excellent audiobook versions of Dahl's books. In 2013 Penguin Audio released new audio versions of several Dahl books featuring famous actors from the United Kingdom. Kate Winslett reads Matilda, Stephen Fry reads The Enormous Crocodile, Hugh Laurie reads The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me, and more!
There have been very few things to be excited about during the recent Covid-19 pandemic, but one of those is definitely the live readings of James and the Giant Peach by actor and academy award winning filmmaker Taika Waititi. Taika invites different celebrity friends (Benedict Cumberbatch, Meryl Streep, the Hemsworth brothers, and so many more) for each episode. My childen range in age from 4 to 13 and we have all been enjoying this hilariously funny rendition of one of my favorite Dahl stories. Each episode is available on youtube so be sure to check them out.
I know that I am exposing myself as the biggest nerd ever, but my husband actually gave me this dictionary for Valentine's Day when it was first published. Yep, no flowers or jewelry for this girl. After twenty something years he knows that books are the way to my heart.
Dahl's literary genius is not limited to children's books. If you are a fan of classic Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents you should know that Roald Dahl actually wrote a number of stories that eventually became episodes of these two shows. If you read my introductory post you know that I am a huge Trekkie and one of the most famous episodes of The Twilight Zone stars none other than William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is based on the Roald Dahl book The Gremlins.
Oh my goodness, I could just go on and on about Roald Dahl. If you are interested in learning more about his life Dahl wrote two autobiographies. Boy is about his childhood and Going Solo details Dahl's experiences as a pilot during WWII. Both are exceptional books and I don't usually like nonfiction.
I hope that if you have never heard of Roald Dahl that you are intrigued by this post. If you have heard of Dahl maybe you will learn something or find a new book or audiobook that will make you love him as much as I do. If you need another reason just read this quote of his about writing.
“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful.”
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