Roald Dahl Best Books

Having sold 300 million copies of his books worldwide, Roald Dahl is often hailed as one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century for children.

Matilda (1988) 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory‘ revolves around a young boy named Charlie Bucket who lives on the outskirts of town with his destitute and poverty-stricken family. His father loses his job just as the town’s eccentric chocolate maker, Willy Wonka, announces five hidden golden tickets that would allow its finders to visit his famous chocolate factory. Fortunately, Charlie finds the last and final golden ticket in his chocolate bar and is invited to the Chocolate Factory with 4 other children (Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, and Mike Teavee), who are all rich and spoiled. As Willy Wonka gives the children a tour of his factory, the children, one by one, show their self-centered and entitled behaviors, for which they begin to suffer bizarre consequences.

The BFG (1982)

 ‘The BFG’ begins with a young girl named Sophie who lives in an orphanage. One day, she is suddenly whisked away by the BFG or the Big Friendly Giant. The Big Friendly Giant narrates to Sophie about his job, which involves blowing dreams into children’s rooms. Sophie is fascinated with the world of the giants until she learns of the BFG’s neighbors. The neighbors are wicked giants who snatch children away and eat them. Although the BFG himself is a pacifist, Sophie takes action against the injustices of his neighbors, teaching everyone about the importance of standing up to one’s bullies.

The Witches (1983)

This dark fantasy novel reinforces the classic proverb, “Appearances can be deceptive.” ‘The Witches’ revolves around an unnamed protagonist who has lost his parents and is now living with his grandmother in Norway. He goes to the coast of England, where he and his grandmother stay at a hotel that is crawling with witches. The witches all have one thing in common: they hate children and wish to turn them all into mice. The boy is caught overhearing this plan and is turned into a mouse himself. Along with his friend Bruno and with the wisdom of his grandmother, the boy sets out to stop the witches from executing their plan. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) 

‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ is a comedic children’s story that begins with 3 gluttonous farmers, Bean, Bunce, and Boggis, who are incredibly frustrated with a fox that keeps stealing their life stock. The fox is none other than Mr. Fox, who is trying to feed his family, which consists of his wife and four baby foxes. However, the farmers hatch a plan to catch Mr. Fox and put an end to his thieving activities. Mr. Fox and his family somehow manage to escape, but the farmers are intent on catching him and stringing him up. They enlist the help of all of the farm workers and trap Mr. Fox and his family underground. However, Mr. Fox comes up with a clever plan to outwit the farmers.

James and the Giant Peach (1961) 

‘James and the Giant Peach’ is one of Roald Dahl’s most famous novels. In it, James, an orphan, is living with his two cruel aunts when an old man gives him a set of magical green objects. The green objects cause a giant peach to grow in James’ backyard. Inside the peach are various insects whom James befriends. He and his friends set on a journey across the world, going on various adventures, with James often taking the lead and saving the day.

The Twits (1980) 

‘The Twits’ is the story of a horrible couple, Mr. and Mrs. Twit, who enjoy playing cruel pranks on each other. The couple continuously tries to hunt the birds in the Big Dead tree to make a bird pie. Muggle-wump, a monkey, and his African family warn the birds to stay away from the tree. However, Muggle-wump himself is caught by the Twits and made to undergo training for hours on end for the Twit’s upside-down circus. Muggle-wump must escape, and he hatches a plan with an African bird Roly-Poly, to not only escape but also to turn the Twits’ house upside down.

Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984) 

This is an autobiographical novel that focuses on Roald Dahl’s childhood. The memoir captures his boyhood experiences as a British schoolboy all the way up till his teenage years. The memoir is written with short sentences and villainous characters, much like Roald Dahl’s other books. In it, Dahl recounts various tales of family events, harsh punishments received at school, numerous entertaining adventures with his friends, and his rambunctious activities.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972) 

In this novel, Dahl continues the story of Charlie Bucket and the chocolatier, Willy Wonka. Wonka has now transferred ownership of the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie and his family are all set to take possession of it. They board the flying Great Glass Elevator, which will take them to the factory. However, things go amiss when the elevator is accidentally thrown into orbit in outer space. Charlie and his family end up going on various space adventures with the eccentric Mr. Wonka encountering dangerous aliens on the way. The group escapes narrowly and reaches the Chocolate Factory, where they face several misadventures once again. Charlie and Wonka must ride the Great Glass Elevator once again to set right all that has gone wrong.

Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)

This is a children’s novel about Danny, a young boy who learns the basics of mechanics as well as poaching from his loving father. One day, Danny’s father does not return from one of his poaching adventures. Danny discovers him on Mr. Hazell’s farm with a broken ankle. Danny and his father then hatch a plan to get back at Mr. Hazell in the upcoming annual pheasant shoot. The two of them come up with an ingenious plan that leaves Mr. Hazell pheasant-less while Danny and his father enjoy roast pheasant in their new electric oven.

George’s Marvelous Medicine (1981)

This children’s story follows George’s misadventure with his mean and selfish grandmother. Instructed by his mother to feed his grandmother her medicine, George sets out to create his own medicine to make his grandmother a nice person. His medicine causes his grandmother and a chicken to grow unbelievably large, and George’s father is delighted because this means that they will never go hungry ever again. However, the next few batches of George’s medicine all turn out to have different effects. One batch even makes his grandmother entirely disappear.

Notable Mentions

Roald Dahl has written several other children’s novels including ‘The Gremlins’ (1943), ‘The Magic Finger’ (1966), ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ (1978), ‘The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me’ (1985), ‘Esio Trot’ (1990), ‘The Vicar of Nibbleswicke’ (Posthumously in 1991), ‘The Minpins’ (Posthumously in 1991) and finally, Roald Dahl’s ‘Incredible Chocolate Box’ (Posthumously in 2005). Many of his books have reached best-selling status and are critically acclaimed as some of the best children’s literature of all time.

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