Roald Dahl: Children's stories that were gritty and dark

Children’s book can be all perfect, like say, Cinderella who gets her loving prince in the end, even though her step-mother and step sisters make life miserable for her. The quintessential children’s book by its very essence must have a happy ending to it. But Roald Dahl, didn’t seem to think so. His version of Cinderella was a rather in your face and you can see that he certainly didn’t care for princes.

The Prince cried, ‘Who’s this dirty slut? ‘Off with her nut! Off with her nut!’ Just then, all in a blaze of light, The Magic Fairy hove in sight, Her Magic Wand went swoosh and swish! ‘Cindy! ‘she cried, ‘come make a wish! ‘Wish anything and have no doubt ‘That I will make it come about!’ Cindy answered, ‘Oh kind Fairy, ‘This time I shall be more wary. ‘No more Princes, no more money. ‘I have had my taste of honey. I’m wishing for a decent man. ‘They’re hard to find. D’you think you can?’

[caption id=“attachment_83225” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Roald Dahl with his wife Patricia Neal, and their three children. Keystone Archive/Getty Images.”]  [/caption] In his stories Cindy doesn’t go for the Prince. Today would have been the British author’s 95th birthday and his family is trying to hard to save the legacy of Dahl by raising the funds to preserve a hut in which the late writer wrote tales of big friendly giants, fantastic foxes and magical chocolate factories, tales that we’ve seen come to life on the big-screen, tales that have fascinated both children and adults alike. The family hopes to raise 500,000 pounds ($790,000) to stop the 50-year-old brick and polystyrene shed — preserved as it was when Dahl died in 1990 — from falling apart. Relatives plan to move the interior of the structure from the backyard of Dahl’s former house in the village of Great Missenden, northwest of London, to the nearby Roald Dahl Museum. Dahl called the shed, where he worked daily, “my little nest.” Its contents include his chair, writing board and notepads, along with an eclectic array of objects including the writer’s own hip bone. Visitors can currently see its exterior in the garden of the house, where Dahl’s widow Felicity still lives, but the interior is off-limits. [caption id=“attachment_83305” align=“alignleft” width=“375” caption=“Book cover of Going Solo by Roald Dahl. Flickr”]  [/caption] Dahl’s granddaughter, model and writer Sophie Dahl, said the family wanted to share the writer’s “palpable magic and limitless imagination” with visitors. “It’s an icon,” she told the BBC. “In this humble place, magic was created.” But some people have balked at spending so much money on a shed and suggested royalties from Dahl’s best-selling books could cover the cost. Writer Misha Glenny was one of many to gently poke fun at the campaign on Tuesday. He tweeted: “Stella McCartney to appeal to taxpayers for money to restring her father’s Hofner bass guitar.” But Dahl’s granddaughter said work to preserve the contents of the weather-beaten shed was a major task and had to be done “very, very carefully, step by step, almost in an archaeological way.” Amelia Foster, director of the Roald Dahl museum, said the Dahl family had made a “very significant financial contribution” to the project, and stressed that the campaign would seek funds from charitable trusts rather than members of the public. “The hut is part of our national heritage and we also hope that individual philanthropists will want to play a part in securing its future — for everyone to enjoy,” she said. The author of “The BFG,” ‘‘Fantastic Mr. Fox," ‘‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and “James and the Giant Peach” created characters that will continue to enchant children for several generations. With inputs from AP