Roald Dahl

His Childhood

Roald was born in Llandaff , near Cardiff on 13 th September 1916. His parents Harald and Sofie were both Norwegian. His father and elder sister died when Roald was just three. His mom Sofie was the most important person in his life, she still organised summer trips to Norway where they swam and fished.

His School days were unhappy too, Dahl went to Llandaff Cathedral School till he was nine then he was sent to St Peter’s boarding-school at Weston-super-Mare for four years. He sent weekly letters home to his mom but these were controlled by the headmaster ,he got very homesick and even pretended to have appendicitis but got found out and sent back. It didn’t get any better at Repton in Derbyshire . The only advantage was the school was close to the Cadbury Factory who regulary got the boys testing new types of chocolate bars. Yum , Yum !! He was tall and good at games especially boxing. His school report of 1930 said "I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper." Wow didn’t things change!

On leaving Repton at 17 he didn’t go to university, but went to Newfoundland to travel and explore he loved it.

Roald’s fantastic book "Boy" is all about his childhood and schooldays ...