From a shed at the bottom of his Oxfordshire garden, Roald Dahl penned stories that took readers to whole new worlds.
Worlds inhabited by Oompa-Loompas, friendly giants and a fantastic fox renowned for aggravating farmers.
He gave us Willy Wonka, the mastermind behind the Everlasting Gobstoppers, and the loathsome Mr and Mrs Twit, who tormented their pet monkeys and glued birds to trees.
He also gave us Matilda and her awful headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, who swung schoolgirls around by their plaits and hurled them over walls.
These characters and plenty more have inspired generations of children and adults to pick up Roald Dahl’s books, which have endured the test of time and gone on to prove their worth as timeless pieces of literature.
Since his debut book, The Gremlins, which was first published in 1943, his stories have been passed down from generation to generation like a family heirloom.
Such is their popularity that Hollywood have turned several of them into films, including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Fantastic Mr Fox, which will be showing at cinemas from next Friday.
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“His popularity has never faded, he’s like the Walt Disney of children’s writers, his work just appeals to generation after generation,” says Jon Howells, of Waterstones.
“Since his death in 1990, his books have kept on selling and the film adaptations have kept on coming, which have enriched his legacy rather than taken away from it.”
Although his success can be likened to that of Walt Disney, Roald Dahl certainly has an edgier style, in fact stories such as James and the Giant Peach, have been subject to censorship thanks to their controversial content.
“He is edgy, his books are filled with black humour, gross out comedy and occasionally some pretty scary stuff,” explains Jon.
All the ingredients for a great story, as Roald Dahl explained in a recorded interview on roalddahl.com.
“When you’re writing a book… it’s no good having people who are ordinary because they are not going to interest your readers at all,” he said.
“I find that the only way to make my characters really interesting to children is to exaggerate all their good or bad qualities.
“If a person is nasty or bad or cruel, you make them very nasty, very bad, very cruel. If they are ugly, you make them extremely ugly. That I think is fun and makes an impact.”
English tutor, Josie Stevens, concurs.
A teacher at the former Homefields School in Winkton for 25 years, Josie found that nothing captivated a class of children like a Roald Dahl story.
“To keep a group of teenage boys mute for half an hour the story had to be pretty powerful,” says Josie, who is now a home tutor.
Although Roald Dahl is synonymous with children’s literature, he is also responsible for writing the screenplay for Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, not to mention a host of eyebrow raising adult literature, which is definitely not suitable for children. Take Switch Bitch for example, a collection of short stories written by Dahl for Playboy magazine.
The plots focus on taboo subjects such as adultery, sex and hallucinogenic substances, which will have you double checking the name on the cover.
“Some of the adult stories leaves you stunned when you’ve finished reading them,” says Josie.
“His books are undoubtedly weird but they hook your attention all the way through.”
* First published in 1970, Fantastic Mr Fox is the latest Roald Dahl story to be adapted for the big screen.
In cinemas next Friday, the film was directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited), and has a sprinkling of stardust in the form of Bill Murray, George Clooney and Owen Wilson, who provide the voices for the main characters.
The original story focuses on Mr Fox, a family fox who spends his evenings pilfering chickens from three mean farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – so he can feed Mrs Fox and his cubs.
Fed up with Mr Fox’ looting, the fetid farmers embark on a futile attempt to catch Mr Fox, whose tail is shot off during one of the heists.
However, while they are busy tearing up the countryside looking for Mr Fox, he’s pulling off the biggest burglary of all.
