In this nostalgic work, Dahl combines recollections of his early years with reflections on the changing seasons... In a delightful month-by-month journey through the passing year, Roald Dahl mixes past and present; reminiscences of childhood and adolescence are interwoven with his observations about the changing seasons and the festivals we celebrate. Dahl's love of nature was a deep and abiding one. He kept careful notes about the animals, birds, flowers, plants and berries of the countryside around his home, Gypsy House. In the last year of his life, he recorded his thoughts in this fresh and memorable account. My Year contains some of the most remarkable of Roald Dahl's writing. Watercolor illustrations by Dahl's frequent collaborator, Quentin Blake, are suffused with the beauty of the countryside Dahl loved so much. My Year will delight adults and children equally. It is a book to linger over, to savor and enjoy, and to return to year after year. Roald Dahl was a spy, ace fighter-pilot, chocolate historian, and medical inventor. He was also the author of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (1964), 'Matilda' (1988), 'The BFG' (1982) and many more brilliant stories. He remains the World's No. 1 Storyteller. Note: The text in this book first appeared in 'The Dahl Diary' (1992) published by Puffin Books.
Author
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel. His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".
