The 10 Best Roald Dahl books of all time
Entertain the kids (and yourself) with these brilliant Roald Dahl books.
Roald Dahl is one of the best-selling children’s authors of all time having sold approximately 250 million books worldwide - which makes our job of rounding up the top ten pretty darn difficult.
However, we’ve decided to rise to the occasion because, thanks to a certain pandemic, we need all the entertainment we can get at the moment.
In the list below, you’ll find the classics we all know and love combined with a couple of more obscure options that will hopefully give you something new to read.
So, whether you’re just here for nostalgia’s sake, or are actually looking for books to read (or revisit) as a family - all, of course, with the charming illustrations by Quentin Blake
Here are the 10 best Roald Dahl books we all need to read at least once in our lifetimes.
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10. The Twits
The Twits are probably some of Dahl’s least likeable characters he’s ever written. Mr Twit is described as having a dirty beard “with food clinging to it”, while his wife, Mrs Twit, is equally unlovely. They’re also not very fond of each other, which is where the chaos ensues as the pair start playing more and more tricks on each other. The book is apparently inspired by Dahl's hatred of beards.
9. Esio Trot
One of Roald Dahl’s last stories, Esio Trot is about a shy old man’s undeclared love for his neighbour, Mrs Silver, and the lengths he goes to win her heart. Oh, and there’s a tortoise called Alfie, because what story isn’t made better by a tiny tortoise. Esio Trot was a favourite of the book’s illustrator Quentin Blake and he even narrates the audiobook.
8. The Vicar Of Nibbleswicke
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke is the only book on this list to be published after Dahl’s life. A more obscure choice but it’s another heart-warming one. Having been written to raise awareness around dyslexia, Dahl even auctioned all rights of the book to benefit The Dyslexia Institute before his death.
The book itself tells the story of Robert Lee, who, having suffered with severe dyslexia as a boy, successfully overcame his problems with the help of The Dyslexia Institute. Unfortunately, after arriving in Nibbleswicke as the town's new reverend, he develops a very unusual condition called Back-to-Front Dyslexia.
7. The Witches
The Witches tells the story of a brave young boy and his Norwegian grandmother as they battle England's witches who wish to rid the world of children. An usual quirk of this the heroes of this story - both the boy and his grandmother - remain nameless throughout the book. A word of warning before reading this one at bedtime, The Witches continues to top lists of the scariest children’s books around.
6. Danny, The Champion Of The World
Dahl loved to take his own life and put it into his own stories. For example, the caravan Danny and his dad live in, in this book, is based upon a real Roma caravan Dahl bought in the 1960s, which was used as a playroom for the children. The story itself is all about the father-son partnership of Danny and his dad, William against the local beer magnate Mr Hazell.