♪ [harp] I see your reading a Roald Dahl book. That ones been turned into a movie, you know, a lot of his books have. He was also an Air Force pilot, an adventurer, a movie scriptwriter.
Did you know that? Although some say he was kind of rude. <i> Huh?
</i> Hm, who am I? Don't be silly, I'm your tour guide and today's your lucky day. You found my golden ticket, to where?
Come with me and you'll see the world of Roald Dahl. ♪ ♪ Welcome to Roaldworld. Roald Dahl was born in Wales to Norwegian parents in 1916.
When he got to school age, he was sent away to boarding school. Dahl said his experience there was hard, including physical punishment and cruel treatment from older students and teachers. These painful memories inspired some of his stories, many included adult villains.
See if that child is still alive! Isabelle:<i> </i> But it wasn't all bad<i> . </i> His mom would take Roald in his sisters on holiday to Norway, which he loved.
After he graduated high school, he didn't want to go to university. He wanted to go on an adventure. He went on an expedition to Newfoundland, and then he joined the Shell Oil Company and worked in East Africa.
When the Second World War broke out, Dahl joined the British Royal Air Force as a pilot. On a trip to meet up with other troops, he and another pilot got lost. and crash landed in Libya.
He continued to fly, but eventually, because of his injuries, he couldn't anymore, so he was reassigned to work at the British Embassy in the United States. ♪ ♪ And if all that wasn't already dramatic, there's speculation that Dhal was an undercover spy reporting on what the Americans were saying and doing to help the British. ♪ ♪ His days in the Air Force inspired his first writing, he started with short stories for adults.
Eventually, someone suggested he should try writing for kids, and the rest is history. [she sighs] Sorry, maybe I should have warned you we were going somewhere. Don't worry, I'm not used to it either.
I call this room, Dahl's Imagination. If you know some of his stories, you might recognize a few things. And no, not everything in here is edible, so don't even try.
Over there, you'll see the Peach Pit from his first hit kids book, James and the Giant Peach. Apparently that one was based off of stories he told his own kids. By the way, he had five kids with his movie star wife Patricia Neal.
And I know you've been looking at that chocolate waterfall. Dahl always had a love for chocolate, which helped inspire one of his most famous works, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That book came out in 1964 and since then there have been several adaptations.
Oh, more chocolate. You might recognize this cake from Matilda. That book was published in 1988 and also has live action adaptations.
<i> ♪ A single slice Or even two, Bruce</i> <i> ♪ Might have been nice But even you, Bruce</i> Dahl used journals to capture ideas throughout his life. Experts at the Roald Dahl Museum say he may have written ideas for Matilda 30 years before he actually wrote the book. And he didn't just write books.
He also co-wrote film scripts including the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and the children's classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Oh, come here. You might not expect this, but Dahl helped invent a life saving medical device.
In 1960, his four month old son Theo got into an accident and developed hydrocephalus, which is sometimes called water on the brain. Dahl worked with an engineer and a neurosurgeon to create a device that helps patients with that condition. It was known as the Wade-Dahl-Till Valve.
Now, I hate to wrap up this tour and bring you back to real life, but one more thing before I go. Now, for all the inspiring things Dahl did, he wasn't perfect. For example, he made anti-Semitic racist statements against Jewish people multiple times.
In 2020, thirty years after his death, his family apologized for his statements. In 2023, the Roald Dahl Museum issued its own statement in consultation with Jewish groups. Dahl was known to rub people the wrong way and could be seen as rude.
He's a complicated person, but whether his behaviour or views, he and his legacy, I'll leave that up to you to decide. That's it for KN Explains. For<i> CBC Kids News,</i> I'm Isabelle MacNeil.
