Roald Dahl Topic Guide for Teachers

Roald Dahl is considered to be one of the foremost children’s authors of the twentieth century. During his lifetime, he wrote nearly 50 books, most of which were for children. Many of his books have been turned into films.

Dahl loved to invent words, and made up over 500 of them in his books, such as “swigpill” (disgusting food) and “exundly” (exactly). These words are known as “gobblefunk”.

Teach your children about Roald Dahl using our handy topic guide!

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Teaching Ideas

Use these timeline resources to find out more about Dahl’s life.
Our differentiated Dahl biography comprehension is perfect for a guided reading session.
Our huge list of activities based on The Twits is one of a series covering many of his most popular books. You can find the whole list here.
Study Roald Dahl’s biography of his childhood, Boy, with these amazing lesson plans from Puffin.
Investigate Matilda’s powers with this lesson plan. Free registration is required to download it.
Research Dahl’s own special language, Goobblefunk.
Design your own vile visitor to the Chocolate Factory.
Create your own marvellous medicine.

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Resources

Use our Roald Dahl fact cards to support your author study.
Decorate your reading area with some quotes from Dahl’s stories on these posters.
This pack of activities and resources is perfect to use on Roald Dahl day (13th September), or at any other time of year!
This site has some interesting English and Maths activities based on Dahl’s work.
Explore Roald Dahl’s letters.

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Roald Dahl Facts

Dahl’s books have been published in 34 different languages.
Roald Dahl was born on the 13th of September 1916 in Cardiff, Wales.
His parents were Norwegian and he visited his grandparents in Norway during the summer holidays when he was young.
When he won the Whitbread prize for The Witches in 1983, he gave the prize money to a children’s hospice.
Roald Dahl was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and could fly a Tiger Moth biplane.

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Videos

James & the Giant Peach

Enjoy this terrific reading of James and the Giant Peach by Avengers starTaika Waititi and his friends via video call.

Running time: 17:25

George’s Marvellous Medicine

Presenters Dick and Dom explain why ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ by Roald Dahl is their favourite children’s book.

Running time: 6:14

Roald Dahl On His Writing Process

A fascinating video where Dahl shares his writing routine and his ideas for Matilda.

Running time: 4:13

Fantastic Mr Fox Trailer

Use this video to compare the film to the book. Is this how you imagine the story?

Running time: 2:31

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Books

Links

The official Roald Dahl site is packed with exciting things to explore, including games, activities and a search engine to find out more about the stories and characters.
Quiz yourself on some of Dahl’s best loved books.
Take this fun quiz to find out which Roald Dahl character you are!
Check out the Roald Dahl Kiddle page for lots of facts and information.
Try one of these fantastic Roald Dahl craft ideas.
Explore Dahl’s gobblefunk words in this gobblefunk dictionary.