Roald Dahl

Here you'll find the wikizine for Roald Dahl whose influence on the childhood fantasies of Gen-Xers makes him almost the Gen-X Dr. Seuss. Except Dahl is more grim, like the Brothers Grimm – and his stories are full of bonecrunching and child-eating and disposing of bad children down garbage chutes. Among his 19 children's books are The BFG, which became an animated film and has recently been produced as a play, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which, in addition to a play version, was adapted for two films -- the 1971 version starring Gene Wilder as the eccentric factory owner Willy Wonka and the 2005 version with Johnny Depp playing the role.

Born in Wales in 1916, Dahl loved to play with the sounds of language like his fellow countryman Dylan Thomas. Where Thomas created poetry, Dahl used his quirky ear to create vocabulary, words like gobstoppers, fleshlumpeaters and oompa-loompas.

As a WWII pilot, Dahl had his adventures and had probably seen the underbelly of the civilized world, as his books suggest. If you're looking for some kid reading, hold the syrup, then creative and funny Dahl might be right for your library.

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Mr. Pusskins, Grubtown Tales win Dahl Funny Prize

From: reuters.com

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A tale about a grumpy but loveable cat and a story recounting the madcap adventures of a town of oddballs were the winners of this year's Roald Dahl Funny Prize announced at a ceremony in London on Tuesday.

"Mr. Pusskins Best in Show" by Sam Lloyd won the prize named after much-loved British children's author Dahl in the category for six-year-olds and younger, while "Grubtown Tales: Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky" by Philip Ardagh and illustrated by Jim Paillot won the award in the seven- to 14-year-old category.

A grumpy but loveable cat, Mr. Pusskins is determined to lay his paws on the trophy for Best-Looking Pet at a beauty show, but ends up being deceived by a cunning poodle.

But all's well that ends well for the plucky feline who still makes his loving owner proud by inadvertently performing extraordinary feats of talent to win another award.

"Mr. Pusskins is a cat who could turn into a catastrophe but instead, he's a champ," said author and poet Michael Rosen, the chair of the judges for the prize.

"Even though he heads for the toilet instead of the cat-show, and even though he doesn't realize he's whizzing through an obstacle race, he ends up being the winner."

Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky tells the story of Grubtown, whose eccentric residents plot to rid the town of the repulsive Manual Org.

The judging panel was comprised of Rosen, comedian Bill Bailey, author and illustrator Minnie Grey and Andy Stanton, one of the winners of the 2008 Funny Prize.

The winners were given a check for 2,500 pounds ($4,165) and a bottle of wine from Dahl's wine cellar.

(Reporting by Simon Falush)

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