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WRITER

Roald Dahl

1916 - 1990

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Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Roald Dahl has received more than 22,001,789 page views. His biography is available in 85 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 82 in 2019). Roald Dahl is the 197th most popular writer (up from 249th in 2019), the 138th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 193rd in 2019) and the 18th most popular British Writer.

Roald Dahl is most famous for his children's books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach.

Memorability Metrics

  • 22M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 72.79

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 85

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.20

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.85

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories, Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic, Juvenile Fiction / General
<p><b>'Weelcome, ma Wee freends!<br>Weelcome TAE the CHOCOLATE WORKS!'</b></p><p>When Mr Wullie Wonka invites five bairns ben intae his warld-famous chocolate factory, some o them turn oot tae be spoilt wee bampots.</p><p>For Chairlie Baffie, the tour o Wonka’s chocolate works is the adventure o a lifetime. Has Violet Boakregarde bitten aff mair than she can chaw? Will Mike Teeveeheid finally end up on TV? Will Chairlie go UP AND OOT in Wullie Wonka’s Muckle Gless Lift?</p><p>Find oot in Matthew Fitt’s gallus new Scots translation o Roald Dahl’s classic story <i>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory</i>.</p>
19645 / 5
The BFG
1982
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
1972
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Children's stories
Mr Fox steals food from the horrible farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean - one fat, one short, one lean. These three crooks concoct a plan to dig Mr Fox out of his home, but they don't realize how truly fantastic Mr Fox is, or how far he'll go to save his family . . . www.roalddahl.com
19705 / 5
Matilda
1900
James and the Giant Peach
1675
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Childrens Media Tie-In Books, Children's Middle Grade Action & Adventure Books, Children's Picture Books
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was first published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1964 and in the United Kingdom by George Allen & Unwin 11 months later. In the 2012 survey published by SLJ, a monthly with primarily US audience, Charlie was the second of four books by Dahl among their Top 100 Chapter Books, one more than any other writer. Time magazine in the US included the novel in its list of the 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time.
1964
Matilda
juvenile fiction, Schools, Girls
No podemos resistirnos a Matilda y recomendar a su autor a los niños que no lo conozcan. Matilda debe poner orden en una escuela poco acogedora porque sus profesores no están a la altura de su profesión. Pero el humor, la ironía y también la ternura harán que la escuela termine siendo un lugar amable donde ayuden a los niños a crecer y a leer. Roald Dahl decía que todos los niños tenían una brasa y que alguien debe encender el fuego y mantenerlo encendido. La escuela tiene este papel que cumplir porque de ello depende la luz del mundo. Source: [1], back cover [1]: https://archive.org/details/matilda00roal
1988
James and the Giant Peach
Christian Books, Roald Dahl, children
***Roald Dahl's first and most widely celebrated book for young people continues to thrill readers around the world.*** **When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen.** The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. When James discovers a secret entrance-way into the fruit and crawls inside, he meets wonderful new friends--the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the dainty Ladybug, and the Centipede of the multiple boots. ***After years of feeling like an outsider in his aunts' house, James finally found a place where he belongs. With a snip of the stem, the peach household starts rolling away--and the adventure begins!*** "This is a stunning book to be cherished for its story, a superb fantasy."***--Chicago Tribune*** "A beautifully written, fantastic book."***--Christian Science Monitor***
1961
Fantastic Mr Fox
Animals, Hunger, Open Library Staff Picks
The main character of Fantastic Mr. Fox is an extremely clever anthropomorphized fox named Mr. Fox. He lives with his wife and four little foxes. In order to feed his family, he steals food from the cruel, brutish farmers named Boggis, Bunce, and Bean every night. Finally tired of being constantly outwitted by Mr. Fox, the farmers attempt to capture and kill him. The foxes escape in time by burrowing deep into the ground. The farmers decide to wait outside the hole for the foxes to emerge. Unable to leave the hole and steal food, Mr. Fox and his family begin to starve. Mr. Fox devises a plan to steal food from the farmers by tunneling into the ground and borrowing into the farmer's houses. Aided by a friendly Badger, the animals bring the stolen food back and Mrs. Fox prepares a great celebratory banquet attended by the other starving animals and their families. Mr. Fox invites all the animals to live with him underground and says that he will provide food for them daily thanks to his underground passages. All the animals live happily and safely, while the farmers remain waiting outside in vain for Mr. Fox to show up.
1970
The Witches
Fiction, Witches, Grandmothers
A collection of seven short plays following the story of Roald Dahl's book in sequence. Some are for three or four actors and a couple are ideal for performance by a whole class. Full of humour, excitement and magic and true to the spirit of Dahl's work.
1983
The BFG
Open Library Staff Picks, Roald Dahl, Tweens
This book is a great book for all ages. It is a fantasy/adventure book.The BFG stands for 'Big Friendly Giant'. He isn't like other giants, instead of going out to different countries to eat children he catches dreams. When he find's a little orphan girl watching him, he kidnaps her because he doesn't want anyone to find out that he was there, but when they arrive at giant's land they become friends and set off into the world to save all the children from the hungry giants.
1980

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Roald Dahl ranks 197 out of 7,302. Before him are Janusz Korczak, Lu Xun, Al-Masudi, Friedrich Hölderlin, Juvenal, and Luís de Camões. After him are Louis-Ferdinand Céline, William Blake, Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Khalil Gibran, and Anna Wintour.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1916, Roald Dahl ranks 6. Before him are François Mitterrand, Ferruccio Lamborghini, Edward Heath, Kirk Douglas, and Elena Ceaușescu. After him are Gregory Peck, Francis Crick, Aldo Moro, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, and Gough Whitlam. Among people deceased in 1990, Roald Dahl ranks 4. Before him are Rajneesh, Lev Yashin, and Greta Garbo. After him are Leonard Bernstein, Louis Althusser, Alberto Moravia, Ava Gardner, B. F. Skinner, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Paulette Goddard, and Sarah Vaughan.

Others Born in 1916

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Others Deceased in 1990

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Roald Dahl ranks 138 out of 8,785. Before him are Bobby Charlton (1937), Edward VII (1841), Henry VI of England (1421), William of Ockham (1285), Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830), and George IV of the United Kingdom (1762). After him are Michael Caine (1933), William Blake (1757), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824), Cat Stevens (1948), Howard Carter (1874), and Eric Clapton (1945).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Roald Dahl ranks 18. Before him are Mary Shelley (1797), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850), Walter Scott (1771), Terry Pratchett (1948), H. G. Wells (1866), and Aldous Huxley (1894). After him are William Blake (1757), Anna Wintour (1949), J. K. Rowling (1965), John Milton (1608), Geoffrey Chaucer (1343), and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759).

British born Writers

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