Everybody is London is talking about the new film of Roald Dahl’s story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp. The story is about a poor boy called Charlie Bucket who lives near Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Charlie wins an invitation to visit the chocolate factory and his adventure begins…

You can read the exciting story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before you see the film. It is in the Penguin Young Readers series at Level 3.

Roald Dahl was born in Wales in the west of Britain in 1916. His parents were from Norway. His parents chose the name Roald, because of the famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Young Roald Dahl went to a famous school in England, called Repton School. It was close to the Cadbury chocolate factory. Sometimes, the factory sent new chocolates to Repton School for the boys. Mr Cadbury wanted the boys to taste the new chocolates and tell him if they were good. Roald dreamed of inventing a new chocolate and showing it to Mr Cadbury.

After school Roald Dahl went to work for Shell Petroleum in Africa. In 1939, Roald Dahl joined the Royal Air Force and learned to be a pilot. He flew many aeroplanes during the Second World War and had many adventures. Once he crashed his aeroplane in the Libyan desert and he was hurt badly.

He started writing about his adventures in the war. Then he wrote a book for children called The Gremlins. His next book was another children’s story: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Roald Dahl is famous for many different kinds of writing. His children’s stories like James and the Giant Peach, Matilda {Penguin Readers Level 3], The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are very famous. He also wrote books of poems for children. His book Revolting Rhymes makes fun of traditional children’s stories like Cinderella.

Roald Dahl also wrote short stories for adults. There are two collections of his stories at in the Penguin Readers series, Taste and Other Tales [Penguin Readers Level 5] and Man from the South and Other Stories [Penguin Readers Level 6]. His stories have a dark sense of humour and often a surprising twist at the end.

Roald Dahl died in 1990 but luckily both children and adults can continue to enjoy his exciting and funny stories.

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