Television Poem Summary by Roald Dahl

Television Summary by Roald Dahl

As the mouthpiece of a number of people, the poet begins by saying that the parents should keep the children away from the television set. He makes this statement in a very aggressive way. He compares the television set to be as bad as an idiot box. Hence, the children should be kept away from the television set or may be the best part would be instead, never install the television sets in the house. If there would be no television sets, the children would not have it to waste all their precious time in front of them.

Next, the poet speaks as if he had taken great experience by making a long research on the evil effects of watching television by visiting a large number of households in Britain. He says that in almost every house, the children are seen glued to the screen of the television. They are so much lost in watching the shows and programmes that their mouths remain gaping and eyes fixed to the screen until they seem to be popping out of their sockets. The children watch the television in different postures, i.e., in half-lying position while relaxing in some odd manner. The poet humorously points out the seriousness of the matter by saying that a dozen eyeballs were found scattered on the floor in a house the previous week.

The children sit and keep on staring until they get fully lost in the visuals. They sit fixedly at one place as if they were hypnotised (under the influence of) by some power and they remain in that position until they become lost in the shockingly unpleasant and useless material shown on the television screen.

The parents feel and think that they have relief (relaxation) from their children as they would not jump from the window sill if they watch the television. They would not fight, kick and hit. In the meantime, the mother will be able to prepare lunch and wash dishes in the sink. At the same time, the poet questions the parents of the bad effects which the television has on their children.

Then, the poet, by writing in capital letters, makes an emphasis on the negative impact of the television on the children when they watch too much television. It gradually stops the progress of their power of understanding and imagining things around them. Watching the television fills their mind with so much material and other stuff they hardly think and imagine freely of their own. The originality of their thoughts is completely lost. A child’s mind becomes blocked to the natural world. They no more enjoy the natural scenery. They fail to enjoy the world of fantasy and fairyland.

Next the poet anticipates what the parents next question would be. They might agree to take away the television set from their children but will ask how they are supposed to now keep their children and occupied. The poet asks the parents to recall how children had kept themselves entertained before television was invented.

The poet reminds the parents by saying that before the coming of television children would take great interest in reading different kinds of books. Books could be found everywhere—be it on the nursery shelves, nursery floor, in the bedroom or the children’s bed. Surprisingly, they would spend half of their lives in reading books which was the only and the main source of entertainment in the past.

The poet tells the parents that if they think of the past surroundings in the concern of their children they will come to know that when the television was not invented, the children had great treasure of books in their rooms. Then, the poet talks about the kind of typical fantasy stories that the children would read in his day. These were the stories of adventure with many interesting characters.

The children used to read the books which were filled with tales of treasure islands, voyages, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants and cannibals. The small children used to read tales about Mr. Tod, Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland and Mrs. Tiggy-winkly, written by Beatrix Potter. These stories were fascinating and interesting. These stories would cast a spell on the minds of the small children.

Then the poet makes an earnest appeal to parents to throw away their television set and replace it with a bookshelf, ignoring all the objectives of their children. The poet feels sure that sooner or later the children will turn their minds to reading books to spend their time. The poet shows his firm belief by assuring the parents that the children will not be able to stop reading books once they have started and then will wonder why they had ever liked watching television. In the end the children will thank their parents for introducing them to books.

Television Poem Summary Introduction

The poem entitled Television is a famous poem of Dahl that advises and inspires to read books instead of watching the television. This is one of the most relevant poems of our time. The poem takes a comic look at a serious problem among young children today. It warns us about the dangers of watching television excessively. T.V. robs our minds of the power of imagination and creativity.

In the poem, the poet talks about the importance of books in the lives of the children and most importantly, how this passion for books has been substituted with the addiction for television. The poet mpkes the television set like an evil which hinders the growth of brains for the children and hampers their creativity. Next the poet highlights the vitality of books which are, however, ignored because of the television. He advises us to read books as it will enable us to discover deeper levels of joy, find fulfilment in life and open a whole new and exciting world for us.

In the end of the poem, the poet requests the parents to do away with the television sets from their homes and instead place nice book shelf at its place and fill it with good books. This will aid the children build their knowledge, creativity and at the end, will make them successful. No matter, now, the children might rebel at this change and even argue and fight with the parents to throw away their favourite television, but at the end, they will be benefitting out of it. And a day will come, when they will acknowledge and thank the parents for doing so.

The poem is a long one but very simple in language and form. It follows rhymed iambic tetrameter lines throughout the poem with no stanza division. The poet has capitalized the important portions-especially where he talks about the undesired consequences of watching televison.

Television Summary Stanzawise Word-Meanings, Paraphrase and Explanation

1. The most important ………………………………………….. at all.
Word-meanings : Never let television set = the children should not be allowed to watch the television. Better still = a better solution to the problem. Instal = setup. The idiotic …. all = the television makes the viewers stupid and dull.

Paraphrase : Addressing all British parents, the poet tells them that the most important thing they must know while bringing up their children, is to keep them away from the television set. The parents should not allow their children to watch the television. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the first place.

Reference to the Context: These lines giving a serious warning to the parents against the excessive use of the television as a source of entertainment for the children, have been extracted from the poem entitle Television, by Roald Dahl.

Here, the poet, addressing to the parent, warns against the dangerous and terrible effects of the television on the minds of the children and also advises them (the parents) never to let their children come near the television set.

Explanation : The poet begins the poem with an abrupt and dramatic way with an old saying by elders to keep the children away from the television’ set. Addressing the parents universally, he tries to convince them about the negative and harmful impacts of watching the television. He appeals them in the most emphatic manner that the children should not be allowed to watch the television. The poet seems to be very agressive when he calls the television an ‘idiotic thing’. The television is called an ‘idiotic thing’ as it fills the minds of its viewers with stupid stuff. Further he persuades them to never install the television set in the house. He adds that if there would be no television sets, the f children would not have it to waste all their precious time sitting in front of them.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet describes the television set as the ‘idiot box’ out of his aversion for it.
2. The poet makes a universal plea to the parents to keep away their children from the television and not install the television.

2. In almost ………………………………………….. on the floor.
Word-meanings : Gaping = watching or looking at something in such an engrossed way so as not being to observe anything going on around. Loll = to lie, sit in a relaxed way. Slop = untidy way of sitting. Lounge = relax. Stare = to look fixedly.

Paraphrase: The poet shares his experience by speaking in a way as if he had made a long research on evil effects of watching television by visiting a large number of households in Britain. In almost every house he had watched children gaping at the screen. They were staring with their eyes wide open and with absolute concentration of mind. For sitting a long time before the television set, they become tired. Sometimes they sit or lie in a lazy and casual manner and get sloppy.

But still, they stare at the television until their eyes are too tired to watch any more (their eyes pop out). The poet humorously says that a week ago he saw a dozen eye balls of children lying on the floor in one house because of watching the television excessively. (The poet means to say that half a dozen children were sitting on the floor at someone’s house very recently and were watching the television constantly and fixedly).

Reference to the Context : These lines presenting the poet’s general observation of visiting many houses and his finding many children seeing the television, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet tells us on the basis of his observation that the children sit or stand before the television set lazily and stare at the screen constantly.

Explanation:
According to the poet, it is not uncommon to see the children sitting and staring continuously at the television sets. In almost every house, the same scene is to be seen. The children are so obsessive of watching the television, that one would find them in any awkward pose. The children do not even care about what angle and how they are sitting. But the most interesting part is that their eyes are deeply focused at the television sets. The children are so damn obsessive that they do not even care about their eyes.

It would feel as if their eyeball will come out, but still they would not be tired of watching the television. The poet humorously points out the seriousness of the matter by saying that a dozen eyeballs were found scattered on the floor in a house the previous week.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet uses a bit of exaggeration to say that he saw a dozen of eyeballs lying scattered on the floor.
2. We saw floor : Here we find traditional metaphor.
3. The poet uses rhyming couplets.
4. The use of verbs like ‘loll’, ‘pop’ and ‘lounge’ aptly describe the postures adopted by children while watching television.

3. They sit ………………………………………….. in the sink.
Word-meanings: Stare = to watch or to see continuously. Hypnotised = the state of mind when one feels under some spell. Absolutely = fully. Drunk = engrossed; absorbed. Ghastly = unpleasantly. Junk = useless. Still = motionless. Sill = a flat piece of wood, stone, etc. that forms the base of a window or door. Sink = a large open container in a kitchen, with taps to supply water where the things are washed.

Paraphrase : When the children are before a television, they sit and keep on staring until they get completely engrossed in the visuals. They sit fixedly at one place as if they were hypnotised by some power. They don’t seem to be moving from there, as they probably forget everything around them in the real world. Rather, the one they watch on the television becomes real for the time being.

The poet knows that the television keeps the naughty children calm. When they are in front of the television set, they no more do mischievous things like climbing out the window sill, fighting, kicking and punching. They let the mother free to cook the lunch and wash the dishes in the sink without any disturbance. But that can’t be an excuse to let the children sit before a television because the poet thinks that the idiotic device does more harm than good.

Reference to the Context: These lines showing the poet’s concern over what the modern invention the television set has done to children, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, written by Roald Dahl. This poem has been taken from the poet’s collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’.

Here the poet points out that watching the television has become a craze in modem time. Children of today spend hours in front of the television. They are unable to take the eyes off the screen. They are fascinated and intoxicated by the meaningless entertainment that is churned out on television.

Explanation:
The poet refers to his own experience. Once when he visited someone’s house, he was astonished to see that many children were staring at the television. It seemed to him as if they were sitting infront of the television for a long time. On the basis of his experience and observation, the poet finds that the children sit and stare in front of the televison set for several hours as if they are hypnotised by the scenes in the television. They stare so continuously that it seems that they do not even blink their eyes once. It seems as if they have the hang-over of watching the television which is nothing other than a junk box. While watching the television, the children become still. They are in sedentary position all day and thus do not move out of the house to play or undertake any physical exercise or sports etc.

The parents feel and think that they have relief (relaxation) from their children as they would not commit any mischiefs. They would not jump from the window sill if they watch the television. Besides this, they would not fight, kick and hit at. In the meantime, the parents would be able to do their work without any disturbance. Especially, the mothers would be able to prepare lunch and wash dishes in the sink.

Critical Comments :

1. The television becomes the great obstacle in physical and mental growth of the children.
2. Due to becoming so much engaged in watching the television, the personal relationship between the mother and the child are also somewhat lost.
3. In a way, the children are lost in their own aloof world and do not care about anything else.
4. An unsusual silence comes in relationships and the personal touch is lost.

4. But you did ………………………………………….. only sees.
Word-meanings : Beloved tat = loving child. Rot = here it means to fill the mind with useless stuff and make it (mind) feel dull. Clogs = blocks. Clutter = to fill with lot of things in an untidy way. Fantasy = something unreal and imaginative. As soft as cheese = very pliable.

Paraphrase: The poet—speaker now asks the parents whether they have ever spent a moment to think exactly what harm this television does to their loving child. He himself answers it in a brilliant way. Watching the television regularly for several hours damages the sense in the head. It gradually stops the progress of their power of understanding and imagining things around them.

The television fills their minds with so much material and other stuff that they hardly think and imagine freely of their own. The children are drawn away from the reality, the real world around them. They just believe what they watch, without considering the context. Their own environment hardly match with the ones they see on screen, but still they think all that are real and applicable to them.

The poet is of the opinion that by watching the television, the brain becomes soft like cheese. Children now believe everything they watch or hear on the television. They cannot find their own logic to analyse and interpret a thing. The power of thinking, the thought process freezes and gets rusty. All they do is watching and believing what others say on the television.

Reference to the Contenxt : These lines emphasising the main disadvantages of the television and the unstoppable habit of the children to get to stick it, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet points out that due to watching the television constantly, the children lose the capacity to think. It also prevents them from using their imagination in a creative way. They behave like zombies and have no control over their minds. Here the poet cautions against the inherent danger in getting such frredom by the parents.

Explanation : Focussing on the terrible effects of the television on the minds of the children, he asks the parents that if they have ever considered what harm the television does to their children when they remain engaged in watching that the television for a long time continuously. Then, he tells them emphatically that the television gradually stops their power of understanding and imagining things around them. It makes the children dull and spoils the important senses in the brains. The imagination and creativity is also jammed and the innovative thinking is also dead.

It makes the children so dull that they cannot distinguish the real and fantastic. They stop thinking in their own and only fuss on the facts and knowledge they get from the television. Their own senses of creativity are lost in this case. The childhood fantasies and fairyland and other lovely features of the child get killed and dead because of the television. His thought process stops and corrodes as if it is filled with rust and freezes. After all, the children’s brain stop working in their own. The brain is developed only to the extent what they see and learn out of it.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet seems to be shaking the consciousness of the parents. He informs about the ill effects the television causes to the lovely children.
2. The poet uses all capital letters to emphasise his point.
3. It DEAD : The poet has used the figure of speech personification.
4. The poet uses an angry and sarcastic tone while using the words : ‘rots the sense’, ‘kills imagination’ and ‘clutters up the mind’.
5. HIS CHEESE : Here we find the glimpse of simile.

5. All right ………………………………………….. Gadzooks !
Word-meanings : All right = the poet seems to be aware of the parents’ objection. You’ll cry = the parents will object at, You’ll say = they will ask the poet. Take the set away = remove the television set. What……. entertain = what means of entertainment they will produce for their loving children. Darling = loving or affectionate. Contented = entertained. Monster = horrible thing like the television. Great Scott ! Gadzooks ! = an expression of surprise or amazement.

Paraphrase : The poet says that he knows what the readers or especially the parents would ask him. The question is how the parents will entertain their loving children if they keep the television set away from them. The poet answers the questions only by throwing a question as what they used to do to keep themselves entertained when the television was not invented. The television is a dreaded device, a monster to him. The poet asks them to recall the days of their childhood. The poet himself reminds them that children in earlier times used to read lots of books. Surprisingly people then spent half of their lifetime by reading books.

Reference to the Content : These lines showing the parent’s mental i conflict about the means of entertainment for their children, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet shows his awareness at the parents’ objection when they are I asked to remove the television before the eyes of their children. He satisfies them by asking them to remind their own childhood.

Explanation : Then the poet focuses on the dilemma suffered by the parents. The parents understand that the television is of course not good for the development and growth of their child, but then what they should do to entertain their children. The substitute for televisions needs to be thought about, which is as entertaining as the television set and even will overcome the flaws which the television has.

The answer to this is quite simple. In order to get the answer, the parents should take their thinking far before when the television set was invented. In the good old times also, children used to get entertained as well without the television. The poet takes everyone to the past and emphasises on the best past time of the children to be the books. Reminding the parents to their past, the poet says that if they have forgotten their time how they, in their childhood, remained busy in reading the different kinds of books and thus they spent half of their lives in reading the books. Reading books was the only and the main source of entertainment in the past.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet makes an emphasis on developing the habit of reading the books.
2. The reading of the books must be encouraged by the parents by replacing the television with lots of books.

6. One half ………………………………………….. Penelope.
Word-meanings : Nursery = a room in a house for the special use of the young children. Galore = in abudance. Fantastic = marvellous. Dragon = a mythological large animal with wings, which can breathe fire. Gypsies = groups of travelling people with dark skin and hair traditionally living by itinerant trade and fortune telling. Smugglers = those who take things into or out of a country secretly in a way that is not allowed by the law. Muffled = not loud sound because of being obstructed in some way. Oars = poles with flat blade, used to row or steer a boat through water. Pirates = sea robbers. Cannibals = people who eat the flesh of human beings. Penelope = Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus in Homer’s famous epic The Odyssey. Here it has been used as the name of a dish after Penelope.

Paraphrase : The poet himself reminds the readers and the parents that in those days the nursery shelves were full of books. In nursery shelves, books remained scattered on the floor. Even in their homes, they had great store of the book. The books were seen lying even in their bedrooms. There were only books everywhere.

Then the poet talks about the popular books which the children used to read in their spare time. The children used to read wonderful stories about huge monsters, gypsies, queens and princesses, whales, treasure islands. In some of these stories the smuggulers and the sea-robbers used to operate in boats with covered oars. There were stories of elephants and the cannibals. The cannibals used to eat a very sweet smelling dish named after Penelope.

Reference to the Context: These lines showing how the children in the past used to read the books before the invention of the television, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, by Roald Dahl.

As the poet asks the parents to remove the television sets away from the reach of their children, he knows it very well that the parents will object at it and ask him another source of entertainment for their children. Then the poet asks them to recall their time when they were children and how they used to spend their time.

Explanation :
The poet reminds the parents by saying that in the past when there were no television sets, the children used to read different kinds of books for their entertainment. They used to spend great part of their lives in reading the books. Books could be found everywhere-be it on the nursery shelves, nursery floor, in the bedroom or by the children’s bed. These books contained wonderful stories about the huge monsters, gypsies, queens and princesses, whales, treasure islands. In some of the stories, there was depiction of the smugglers and sea robbers. There were stories about elephants and the cannibals. The cannibals used to eat a very sweet smelling dish named after Penelope who was the loyal wife of Odysseus in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet greatly opposes to watch the television which does great harm to the children.
2. The poet wanders in his own past when the children were great fond of reading the books.
3. The poet convinces the parents to instal the bookshelves instead of installing the television so that they can be able to get a healthy entertainment.
4. In the extract the poet has used different allusions from different sources.

7. The younger ones ………………………………………….. long ago.
Word-meanings : Beatrix Potter = a writer of children books. Rotter = a cruel, mean or unkind person. Rump = the hind part of the body of the mammal.

Paraphrase : The younger children were extremely fond of reading the stories written by Helen Beatrix Potter, an author of children’s books featuring animals with colourful illustrations. Dahl here pays a tribute to the children author for her fantastic stories on animals. He also mentions some of the stories like ‘How the camel got his hump’ and some characters like Mr. Toad, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle etc. from those stories. This shows the poet’s love for those books and how he enjoyed them in his childhood.

Reference to the Context : These lines making an emphasis on the importance and advantages of the books, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet tells us that how the children were great fond of reading the books when there were no television sets and how they spent a greater part of their lives in reading different kinds of books. Here he presents the list of some stories and their characters.

Explanation : The poet takes everyone to the past and emphasises on the best past time of the children to be the books. In the past, the children used to spend their spare or leisure time in reading different kinds of books. They got great treasure of knowledge and other beneficial things from the books. The small children were fond of the stories of the famous English writer Beatrix Potter whose animal tales such as The Tale of Mr. Tod, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Pigling Bland, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, etc. entertained the children and took them to the land of fables and fantasies to entertain as well as educate them. The poet thinks of those days and those children and wonders at the happiness of those children.

Critical Comments :

1. Here the poet recalls those good past days when the children were great fond of reading different kinds of books.
2. The books are not only a great source of knowledge but also of entertainment.
3. The brains of the children can be expanded if they involve themselves in reading.

8. So please ………………………………………….. to read.
Word-meanings : Install = to fix. A lovely bookshelf = a book shelf containing the different kinds of entertaining books. Ignoring looks = not paying any attention to the hostility and aggressiveness of the children. Screams and yells = loud cries of making protest.

Paraphrase : The poet now requests the parents for their own good to throw away their television set and instal a bookshelf in its place. After installing the bookshelf in place of a television set, they should fill it with different kinds of books. In the beginning the parents will have to face an aggressive attitude of their children. The children will scream and yell even they can bite and kick their parents for removing the television set which they (children) regarded the best source of their entertainment. Sometimes the children may attack their parents with sticks due to having great aggression.

But the poet insists on filling that shelf with lots of books on various topics ignoring all these things made by their children for showing protest. The poet assures the parents by saying that they need not fear of their children’s aggressive behaviour and attitude while installing a bookshelf for them. After a week or two, the children will start to show their inclination towards the books. They will develop a kind of habit which will provoke them to read more books and they will show no interest in the television. They will come closer to books on their own.

Reference to the Context : These lines making a universal appeal to develop the habit of reading the books in children and keep them away from the television which brings a great disaster to the physical and mental growth of the children, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, written by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet makes an earnest appeal to the parents to throw the television set away and instal in its place a bookshelf on the wall. He also asks them to ignore the bitter opposition of their children to this move for some days.

Explanation : The good old time of books was so great that the poet cherishes his past and then requests the parents of the present days to throw away the television sets and instead get those old bookshelves and lovely books back to its place. The children should have lovely bookshelves hanging on the wall which will not only increase the beauty of wall but also provide a healthy stuff to their brains. The bookshelves should be filled with many entertaining and knowledge giving books.

This action made by the parents will not be liked by the children at first and they might oppose to this by different actions like screaming, shouting and even worse. But the parents should not be afraid from this revolutionary action of the children. Things will settle down in some time.

Critical Comments :

1. The poet by using the words such as please, beg and pray, sincerely appeals to the parents to throw away the television sets and replace them with bookshelves.
2. The poet stresses the importance of inculcating reading as a habit.
3. The poet thinks that it is only reading that can enlighten the minds of the children and fill them with true joy and happiness.

9. And once ………………………………………….. you did.
Word-meanings : Ridiculous = deserving or inviting mockery. Nauseating = causing a feeling of disgust. Foul = offensive to the senses, especially through having a disgusting smell or taste or being dirty. Repulsive = arousing intense distaste or disgust.

Paraphrase: The poet is certain that once they (the children) start reading the books, they will find it interesting to read more and more books. That will give them the imagination and thoughts, the knowledge and wisdom, the satisfaction of mind and heart. And at one stage they will grow so keen of reading books that they will wonder what they had found in that silly machine called television.

They will find the television screen disgusting and unclean then, as they will discover the real joy of reading books. And finally each and every child will love the parents for giving them the opportunity to find real joy in reading books. Even when they would grow up, they would thank their parents for taking that television set away and installing the bookshelf there.

Reference to the Context : These lines emphasising the importance of books, have been extracted from the poem entitled Television, written by Roald Dahl.

Here the poet expresses his firm belief by saying that sooner or later, the children will be inclined to read the books. They will gradually feel the need to read books.

Explanation :
When there will be no television and nothing else to do, children will of course need something for entertainment and then will come the time when they will grab a book and start to read the same. And once they will start operating the books, the real joy will come then. They themselves will understand the joy of reading and soon will get interest. These books will make their own place in the hearts of the children and they will become fond of reading. That will be the day when they will realise that they had been wasting a lot of their precious time in watching the television.

The children will soon realise that their parents have done wonderful thing for them by throwing away the television and installing the bookshelves to entertain and teach them so much. The children will love their parents all the more for throwing away the television and bringing them near to the books.

Critical Comments :

1. For the poet, it is so important to read that he advises all the parents to replace the television and instal the bookshelves filled with books.
2. The poet thinks that the books can give immense joy and happiness to the children. Moreover they can enlighten their minds.

Television Summary About the Poet

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was a prolific writer of children’s stories, adult fiction and film scripts. He was born at Landaff, in Wales, England. He was one of the most successful fiction-writers of the twentieth century. He was educated in England before starting work for the shell oil company in Africa.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted himself in the RAF (Royal Air Forces) and was wounded in Syria. While recovering from his wounds, he started writing his first short stories for children. At the end of the war, he moved to America where he began to write short stories for adult with the encouragement of C.S. Forester. He summed up this period as ‘a very severe apprenticeship for the business of writing real stories for children’.

His stories are liked mostly for his fanciful creations, grotesque humour and surprise-endings. Dahl’s first children book The Gremlins’ (1943) was written for Walt Disney and later became a popular movie. His first children novel, ‘James and the Giant Peach’, was published in 1961. Each one of his books, meant for children, became a bestseller. His many story books for children e.g., ‘Bay Tales of Childhood’ (1984), ‘Going Solo’ (1986), and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (1964) are still very popular.

His stories, popular among the children worldwide, also include ‘The Magic Finger’, ‘Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator’, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’, ‘The Twits’, ‘The BFG and The Witches’. His fictions include the story collections ‘Kiss Kiss’ (1960) and Roald Dahl’s book of Ghost Stories (1953).

Roald Dahl’s work has been translated into 35 languages. He won a number of literary awards which include ‘The Whitbread Children’s Book Prize’, ‘The Smarites Prize’, ‘The Children’s Book of the Year Award’ and ‘The Children’s Author of the Year Award’. He died in 1990 at the age of 74.

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