Fantastic Mr. Dahl

by Michael Rosen

This brand-new biography gives readers the thoroughly fantastic story behind the world's # 1 storyteller!

How did a young boy from a small town in Wales grow up to become one of the world's greatest storytellers—the creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda? From his days at boarding school to his love of chocolate and endless storytelling, Roald Dahl's life, just like his books, was nothing short of extraordinary.

Now the award-winning writer Michael Rosen explores Roald Dahl's own story to discover what made his writing so fantastic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Childrens

161 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2012

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big Roald Dahl fan. And the way Mr. Rosen wrote this is quite nice -- very personal. Plus, he gives some details I didn't know. If you are a Roald Dahl fan, read this book. It is a quick read.

[Jim Ef · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.9/10
Like his books, Roald Dahl's life was extraordinary.
A very interesting read for those who are fans of his books. Makes you understand the man behind those great stories that so many generations have grown up with.

[Astrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Fantastic Mr Dahl" was a great way to learn about Roald Dahl's childhood and the things he went through. This book also contained info. from Dahl's autobiography, Boy. You really learn why he was like he was, which helped my understand his books better.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little biography of Dahl, including lots of interesting facts about his life, as well as some discussion about his writing style and process. I've read Dahl's autobiography in the past, but had forgotten much of it, and enjoyed this reminder, and reading Michael Rosen's take on Dahl and his books.

[Mayli Corona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you know who Roald Dahl is? Roald Dahl is a famous writer and when he was an early adult, he was a heroic pilot in World War II. During his childhood period, he mostly got hit with a cane and because of this, he started writing stories. His Mom would always be the closest to him and she was a big help in her life. If you would want to learn more and interesting things about this famous Roald Dahl then you should read this book called "Fantastic Mr.Dahl" by Michael Rosen. It is a great book.

[Richard Rider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so thrilled with this book I almost want to have a little cry. I bought it at lunchtime, kept sneaking off to the toilets at work to read bits, and finished it on the bus home. I can't remember the last time I was this excited and charmed by something. Michael Rosen is magical. He's so brilliant with words, but that's not the only reason why this book is so wonderful - it's also because it's so obvious how much respect and love he's got for Roald Dahl, who's been my favourite author for my whole life. I know it's meant for children, but really it just feels like you're chatting with your friend about how much you like someone else's stories. There are other books that go into more detail about the slightly less pleasant aspects of Dahl's life and personality, and they're fascinating as well - but as a tribute to the man who first got me reading and writing, this book is flawless and I'm going to treasure it forever as much as I treasure Danny and Charlie and James and Matilda and all the rest. Fantastic Mr. Rosen. <3

[NZBook Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because this is written by such an excellent writer, one just as good as Mr Dahl in my opinion, you get a great insight into the reasons why Dahl wrote the kind of stories that he did, and little hints about what made his writing so clever. I loved how sometimes Rosen just asks a question and doesn't tell us the answer so we can come to our own conclusions, and talks to the reader as though they too are a writer and he wants you to consider how your own life might feed your writing. Brilliant to also have Quentin Blake's illustrations - a book about Dahl would be incomplete without them, and also photographs, as every biography should have.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok - so I might not have actually read any reviews before I ordered this little book to read. I may not have noticed that it was a kids book, designed me thinks for the under ten year olds. Still, it made up for it by being filled by the lovely illustrations of Quentin Blake, that made the ten year old girls inside me smile.

So this book describes the childhood of Raold Dahl, his years in the RAF, as a diplomat and his career as an author. I learnt a bit, even if I didn't have to write a school report about my favourite author, I feel that I could now.

3/5

[Giselle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good.I thought it would just tell you about him and not his stories but it really went into detail.It had a lot of interesting facts which made me want to keep on reading. Roald had a very interesting life.The childhood stories were my personal favorite.He went through a lot but he made the most out of his situation. I would recommend this book to people who like biographys and most importantly,Matilda.

[Rosario Beltran · Rating 5 out of 5]

That book is so sad but so good, which is a good thing, because he died at the end of the story and the beginning was also sad because his father and older sister died at such a young age and Roald Dahl was just about three years old. Since I love this book and it is so good I recommend this book to whoever likes Roald Dahl.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is though biography in strict sense gives details about Roald Dahl and life, writings.

[Učitaj se! | Martina Štivičić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zanimljiva i zabavna biografija Roalda Dahla, pisana poput jedne od Dahlovih knjiga i upotpunjena crtežima iz njegovih knjiga i fotografijama iz njegovog života.

[Cyrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some things I liked about the book Fantastic Mr. Dahl by Michael Rosen is that it talked about Roald Dahl’s childhood. For example, Roald didn’t like St. Peter’s school and thought of the teachers there and the headmaster as dictators, swindlers, tyrants, and cranks. Another thing that happened in his childhood is that there was a mean shopkeeper named Mrs. Pratchett and Roald didn’t like her because of the way she spoke to him and the way she was dressed. When he was in school teachers beated him whenever he misbehaved which inspired him to write a character who was a teacher named Ms. Trunchbull and she loved to beat kids. Another thing that the book says that is interesting is that Roald is one of first writers to who created the mixture of good and bad parents in children’s books. That is some things I like about Fantastic Mr. Dahl and that I recommend this book to 6th graders and above.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I love hearing and reading about authors and their lives, how they got to where they did, where they got their ideas and experiences. I certainly loved Roald Dahl as a child and then was surprised to find out that he also did adults books too which are simply brilliant! I have since forgotten how amazing his children's books were until I began reading them again to my children! So, so pleasurable!

Dahl had an interesting life, there were certainly happy times, and some very sad times as well. But I really enjoyed reading just about him and connecting to the author that was so well known in my house!

[Maya McDonald]

When I read Fantastic Mr. Dahl, I started to figure out what Mr. Dahl was like before writing books. This book really taught me that Mr. Dahl wasn't just a person who wrote books, he was also a father of five kids, he was a world war 2 plane flyer. The most interesting part of this book was when I read that Mr. Dahl never actually thought of writing books, as a career when he was older. This was interesting to me because, if he didn't think of becoming a writer when he was older, than how did he end up writing books? this is my review on Fantastic Mr. Dahl.

[Israel · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fantastic Mr Dahl” by Michael Rosen is a great Biography that talks about famous Roald Dahl's life. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I loved how he stated every little fact about him.The author used quotes from his books and I just loved the way it was formatted.”I first met Roald Dahl…” Bam that's the quote and I loved it. I was instantly hooked to this book. I couldn’t stop reading. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Roald's books, who wants to learn, and who is looking for a good read.

[Nathan Ibanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Mr Dahl is a book that shows information about Roald Dahl, a author. It has many facts and shows a lot of cool events in his life such as being in World War 2. This book is for the people that like biographies and want to learn about a famous author that has lived a surprising life. Once again read Fantastic Mr. Dahl.

[Niobe Villalobos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you know who Roald Dahl is? In the book Fantastic Mr Dahl by Michael Rosen has a lot of facts about Roald Dahl. This book contains may photos and facts about Roald Dahl. For example did you know that Roald Dahl will get beaten with a cane to help him with his disciple. I would recommend this book to people who would like to know more about Roald Dahl.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book enjoyed it very much very interesting and gruesome at moments in time shows pictures of him as a boy called boy would recommend this book to anyone because it is funny interesting and even exciting🐶

[Isobella Watkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was filled with the answers to my questions about Mr Dahl and gave lots of cool information about his life and how he started to love writing books for people to enjoy

[Fearne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's a good way to learn about Roald Dahl Childhood and how he BECAME an author I don't like these kind of books but this one is really good to learn about.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic book because it had loads of facts about Roalds life and recommended another book about roalds life. People should make books like these about other authors as well.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how it tells you all about Ronald Dahl and his life style

[Emily Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's was good but I didn't really like it that much

[Cass · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short little biography that answered some questions about Roald Dahl’s life. It was written for a young audience.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny at the beginning

[Kassia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really do recommend this book because it tells you all about his life and his dad and mum

[Maru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for a look into The Fantastic Mr Dahl's life

[Alisha W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

alishaewhite@yahoo.com

Great book! I highly recommend reading it with your children. My 11 year old son enjoyed the book! on Roland Dahl’s life.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book that delves into some little known facts about Roald Dahl ... also some very useful comments on writing that might help my GCSE students. Really makes me want to visit Great Missenden and see Mr Dahl's writing hut. Fabulous!