Roald Dahl’s bestselling books have sold more than 250 million copies
James and the Giant Peach has sold more than 12 million copies around the world
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has sold more than 13 million copies
Matilda has sold more than 17 million copies
Over the last few years, sales of Matilda have surpassed the combined sales of the rest of Dahl’s works
The BFG has sold more than 37 million copies
In 2021, Dahl earned more money through his works than any other dead celebrity — beating Prince, Michael Jackson, Charles Schulz and Dr. Seuss
Movie adaptations of Roald Dahl’s books have made more than $750 million at the box office
In 2021, Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company (RDSC) for more than £500 million
How many books did Roald Dahl write?
Dahl’s total works consist of 43 books
Roald Dahl has written a total of 19 novels
He has also published 13 collections of short stories
Dahl released 3 collections of poems in his lifetime
8 non-fiction books are attributed to Roald Dahl but only 2 were published before his death
The Gremlins was the first book that Roald Dahl wrote. It was published in 1943
Esio Trot was the last book that Roald Dahl published before his death in 1990
His final novel was The Minpins, which was published after his death
What books did Roald Dahl write?
Roald Dahl’s novels
Title
Published
Page Count
Audiobook Length
The Gremlins
1943
56
–
Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen
1948
244
–
James and the Giant Peach
1961
160
2 hrs and 49 mins
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
1964
192
3 hrs and 17 mins
The Magic Finger
1966
96
26 mins
Fantastic Mr Fox
1970
96
1 hr and 15 mins
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
1972
159
3 hrs and 15 mins
Danny, the Champion of the World
1975
224
4 hrs and 27 mins
The Enormous Crocodile
1978
32
23 mins
My Uncle Oswald
1979
263
6 hrs and 34 mins
The Twits
1980
112
57 mins
George’s Marvellous Medicine
1981
96
1 hr and 20 mins
The BFG
1982
80
4 hrs and 24 mins
The Witches
1983
224
3 hrs and 45 mins
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
1985
96
45 mins
Matilda
1988
232
4 hrs and 18 mins
Esio Trot
1990
96
33 mins
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
1991
36
2 hrs and 59 mins
The Minpins
1991
112
47 mins
Collections of short stories
Title
Published
Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying
1946
Someone Like You
1953
Kiss Kiss
1960
Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl
1969
Switch Bitch
1974
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More
1977
The Best of Roald Dahl
1978
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
More Tales of the Unexpected
1980
A Roald Dahl Selection: Nine Short Stories
1980
Two Fables
1986
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl
1989
The Roald Dahl Treasury
1997
Collections of poems
Title
Published
Revolting Rhymes
1982
Dirty Beasts
1983
Rhyme Stew
1989
Non-fiction books
Title
Published
Type
Page count
Boy: Tales of Childhood
1984
Autobiography
192
Going Solo
1986
Autobiography
210
Memories with Food at Gipsy House
1991
Cook book
240
Roald Dahl’s Guide to Railway Safety
1991
Safety booklet
24
The Dahl Diary 1992
1991
Diary
208
My Year
1993
Autobiography
64
The Roald Dahl Diary 1997
1996
Diary
208
The Mildenhall Treasure
1999
History
80
What are Roald Dahl’s bestselling books?
Roald Dahl’s 10 best selling books are:
The BFG
Matilda
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
George’s Marvellous Medicine
The Witches
Danny the Champion of the World
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Magic Finger
The Twits
Who was Roald Dahl?
Early life and school
Roald Dahl was born in Wales on the 13th of September, 1916
His parents were well-off Norwegians who immigrated to the UK
Dahl spoke Norwegian at home with his parents and it was his first language
Dahl attended a number of boarding schools where teachers and pupils doled out cruel punishments that shaped his attitude throughout his life
One of these schools was near the Cadbury chocolate factory. The schoolchildren were sent samples to try – this time inspired his later work on Charlie and the chocolate factory.
First job and WWII
As an adult, Roald Dahl measured 6ft 6in tall or 1.98m
After school, Dahl skipped college and joined an oil company
He spent was sent to East Africa in 1936 and spent time working in Kenya and Tanzania
During this time Dahl came across what was he perceived as exotic wildlife that went on to inspire some of his work
In 1939, Dahl joind the RAF at the outbreak of World War II
He did his flight training in Kenya and Iraq
In 1940, Dahl crashed his plane in the desert when attempting an emergency landing and fractured his skull amongst other injuries
In 1941, Dahl was declared fit to resume flying duties again and was involved in aerial combat operations shooting down a number of enemy planes
He eventually began to have blackouts and was once again declared unfit to fly
During his time as a pilot he shot down at least 5 enemy planes which earned him the honour of being regarded as a flying ace
In 1942, Dahl was appointed assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, DC
In his time in Washington, Dahl worked with James Bond author Ian Fleming as part of his role in the British embassy
Family life
Dahl married his first wife in 1953 – an American actress named Patricia Neal
Dahl and Neal had five children together
In 1983, Dahl and Neal divorced
Dahl went on to get married again to Felicity d’Abreu Crosland with whom he had been having an affair for the last 11 years of his marriage to Patiricia Neal
Wiriting
Dahl was asked to provide notes on his war experiences for a propaganda piece in a newspaper. Instead of notes, he wrote the entire story himself and it was published exactly as he submitted it other than a change in the headline
Dahl’s books are generally written from the perspective of a child and have an adult as the baddy
Death
Roald Dahl died at the age of 74 in 1990
He had a rare blood cancer
He is buried in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire where he had lived since 1954
What awards did Roald Dahl win?
Roald Dahl has won 3 Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America
In 1983, Dahl was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the World Fantasy Awards for his work on Charlie and the Chocolate and James and the Giant Peach
In 1990, he was named the Children’s Author of the Year at the British Book Awards
In 1998, Matilda was named the Nation’s Favorite Children’s book in the UK by a BBC poll
Roald Dahl TV and movie adaptations
17 movies have been made based upon the works of Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, released in 2005 and starring Johnny Depp, made $475 million at the box office worldwide
The BFG released in 2016 made $195 million at the box office
Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for James Bond movie You Only Live Twice
He also wrote the screenplay for another movie based off a Fleming book – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Title
Released
36 Hours
1965
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971
The BFG
1989
Breaking Point
1989
Danny, the Champion of the World
1989
The Witches
1990
Four Rooms
1995
James and the Giant Peach
1996
Matilda
1996
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
2005
Fantastic Mr. Fox
2009
Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot
2015
The BFG
2016
Revolting Rhymes
2016
Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
