Apparently today is Roald Dahl day. I did not know this beforehand but I shall be using it to watch my all time favourite film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory tonight.
Anyone of my generation surely must have read at least one of his books growing up and almost certainly would have loved it. If they didn’t then we can safely assume they are a robot.
I have just discovered that there is actually way more of his books that I haven’t read than I thought, something I shall definitely be working on rectifying.
My favourite book when I was a child was George’s Marvellous Medicine. I lost count of how many times I read it, but it must have been at least a hundred. I still have the book today. The cover is held on by Sellotape and some of the pages are falling out, but the story is just as great as it always was.
Earlier this year, I read one of Dahl’s two books for grown ups – My Uncle Oswald. It just felt wrong.
Dahl’s books are for children. His books, to me, tell children that it’s alright to be children. It’s okay to be silly and have a lot of fun and enjoy stupid things and have secrets that grown-ups don’t understand.
More importantly, though, I think they taught me how to enjoy life and to always look upon it with a sense of wonder. This spirit is something that I am not ashamed to say I haven’t lost as I’ve become a proper Grown Up and I hope I never do.
P.S. It’s my birthday next month and if anyone wants to buy me a ticket to see Matilda the musical, that’d be ace!