Children love Dahl because it’s not all Princes and Flowers
As a child I loved reading… The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Far Away Tree, Alice in Wonderland you name it! I loved reading… and as an English student it’s probably a good job I still do. However, I loved Roald Dahl the most! His stories were gross and grisly and the bad guys ALWAYS got what they deserved. I think a lot of parents (thankfully not my own) have hesitations about handing a book such as the Witches to their child, some parents believe they are just too grim and scary for children; from Witches with square toes and masks that turned little boys in to mice to gigantic flesh eating giants that kidnapped children from their bedrooms, it’s really not hard to see why adults may have reservations! Despite this, I was hooked. I needed to know what was going to happen to the Fleshlumpeater or the Bonecruncher.
I think children love the scary aspects of Dahl’s work because they want to know if the bad guy is going to go away and the protaganist (who is always good and admirable) is going to win. I was both gripped and horrified by Dahl’s tales and I think that combination is what makes a children’s story so memorable.
If you think about it, most of the best stories are those with darker story line. Take Harry Potter for example- by the seventh book, no matter how old the reader you were it was still pretty dark. From Wizards with no noses, death, murder, betrayal and the fight between good and evil… well that’s probably why it’s one of the highest grossing series ever. The Narnia series are full of themes of war and betrayal too! The point is, is that not many children like a book that is deprived of a bad guy or something disgusting or scary and Roald Dahl was the master of just that!
Children love Dahl Because Parents&Adults Aren’t Always Right
I think Dahl has this wonderful way of allowing children to be angry at their parents and letting them know that it’s okay to be angry and that they aren’t always right. Dahl definately disputes the idea that parents know best. A lot of the bad guys in Dahl’s work are adults or parents and are a generally hated by a majority of the other characters. Dahl encourages children to understand that adults aren’t always right and good partially through the way he desrcibes them.
Take the ferocious Agatha Trunchball from Matilda. The headmistress at Crunchem Hall Primary School is a truly horrible and terrifying woman! This “big-boned” administrator doesn’t hesitate to swing girls by their braids or lock someone in a small, glass-filled cupboard affectionately named “the Chokey.” With one look, she can strike fear into the hearts of all the children at Matilda’s school. Only the most vile of all villains would even dream to shout “In this classroom, in this school, I am God!” The collective hatred towards Miss Trunchball and the way in which Dahl describes her disgusting appearance makes her, the adult character, the enemy. Of course, when Trunchball finally gets what she deserves at the hands of her students, there is a definate feeling of justice and a little bit of smuggness amongst the students.
And of course, there is Matilda’s father, Mr Wormword, who is described as a “small, ratty looking man” who always thinks he is right and boasts about how he can con people into buying his used cars and prides himself on being a criminal. This man, who spent years making fun of Matilda and making her feel “small”, is made to look like a fool and becomes the enemy of Dahl’s audience.
Roald Dahl books made you look at the world differently
Dahl makes the ordinary world in which his characters and audience live in, look different. His books encourage children to imagine extraordinary things and see more than what is in front of them. Dahl made me really believe that there could be giants storming around the streets, snatching children from their bedrooms (bit sinister really) and that animals and insects could talk and would help you in your time of need or the smiley, wrinkley old lady at the end of the road could actually be a witch or if you got angry enough you could move things with your mind and make objects fly across the room! Dahl shows children that exciting and extraordinary things can happen just down the road.
I think Dahl is one of the few authors that manage to capture a child’s imagination by putting down in words all the things he believes they would want to read about, encouraging them to use their imaginations and making them believe they can do anything they want.
“Matilda said, “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable…”
The "Splendiferous" Roald Dahl 
“I think Dahl is one of the few authors that manage to capture a child’s imagination by putting down in words all the things he believes they would want to read about…”
I too loved Dahl, and you’ve really encapsulated why in the above quote. His books were exactly what a young boy or girl wanted to hear stories about; the adjectives and adverbs used described such peculiar stories but made them easy to visualise, aided of course by Quentin Blake, despite the fantastical nature of them. My favourite is one you haven’t mentioned, George’s Marvelous Medicine. It too features a twisted grown up causing trouble for the child protagonist and a story of revenge and I can remember the first time I read it, I couldn’t put it down and was finished in a day, I read it over and over along with The Witches and James and the Giant Peach.
Dahl understood the inherent honesty and purity of childhood and pitted it against the world weariness shown by the adults in his novels in a way that appeals to children. Dr Seuss has the same ability to connect with the psyche of children of a wide range of ages and of both sexes.
Good luck with the rest of your blog