Roald Dahl Day

Today, Wednesday September 13th, 2023, is Roald Dahl day! You may recognize that name from our seventh grade reading book Boy. Roald Dahl day is on his birthday, and was first celebrated in 2006 in the UK, US, and Holland. We celebrate Roald Dahl day as a way to celebrate his life accomplishments and beloved stories. Some of these more well known stories include The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, and most famously Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You probably recognize at least one of these stories from reading it in Elementary, but Roald Dahl didn’t just write books, he also wrote screenplays for stories like “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” If you read the book Boy, you’d know Dahl was born in Wales, but you might not know he died of blood cancer at 74 in 1990.
Despite getting a national day to celebrate him, Roald Dahl’s books have caused some controversy in school libraries. Lots of his books are banned from things now being considered inappropriate, fatphobic, racist, and other problematic and controversial topics for kids books. Our own book Boy references his beatings as a child, and describes them in great detail, which could be considered triggering for some audiences. Specifically, The BFG has been banned for aspects of cannibalism, but is not banned in GUSD. However, most readers have little problem with books like Boy and mention the fact that even though they’re outdated most of which are completely fine for young audiences to read.
In an interview, a seventh grader named Kate Smith said “I think that most of Roald Dahl’s books are completely harmless to little kids. I remember reading his book, The BFG and I was not triggered by it, instead I was amazed by his writing skills and the magical energy that his book gave off. Also, his books have some valuable lessons in them that little kids could use. So I think that his books should not be banned.” Despite the controversy, it’s fun to celebrate the works of Roald Dahl because he was an amazing author in the end.