When I was a kid, I devoured Roald Dahl books.  He holds a very special place in my childhood memories, on my bookshelf, and in my heart. My favorites were Danny the Champion of the World, the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), and James and the Giant Peach. (Danny and the BFG above are my originals – most of the rest are replacements). I have fond memories of checking James and the Giant Peach out of my elementary school library and imagining myself floating in the sky in that big peach.

When I got older, I discovered his short stories for adults, which are wickedly clever. They’re like Hitchcock movies in short story form. I highly recommend the Roald Dahl Omnibus (“Perfect Bedtime Stories for Sleepless Nights”). I also discovered, when I was browsing through a discount bookstore one day, a curious thin volume by him called, “My Year” which is one of the loveliest books I’ve ever read. I absolutely treasure it. He wrote it late in life, and it details his days for one full year as he putters around his house and garden. In fact, I think I need to read it again now.

It gives me great joy to see my girls starting to read his books and loving them as much as I did. They also get the benefit of everything Roald Dahl available on the internet, like his website, complete with Quentin Blake’s familiar illustrations. Lots of things to see and do here.

And if I ever make it over to Buckinghamshire, I would love to go to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, but at least I can see it online. This cheerful short video makes me smile.

I’m going to leave you with a fun surprise. From his archives, you can see his notes for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (who doesn’t love this story?) and how the characters and story evolved. Take a look. It’s really fun to read:

[All dates in brackets are approximate]

RD 2/7/1 Manuscript titled, ‘Charlie’s Chocolate Boy’ [1961]

Ten golden tickets were hidden in Wonka chocolate bars every week so Mr Wonka gave a tour of his factory every Saturday to that week’s lucky finders. In this draft, Charlie Bucket finds a ticket on his first attempt. The other nine children on the factory tour are not introduced to the reader until they meet their respective ends:

• Augustus Pottle, who falls in the chocolate river;

• Miranda Grope, ditto, despite Augustus’ example;

• Wilbur Rice and Tommy Troutbeck climb in wagons running from the vanilla fudge mountain and end up the ‘Pounding and Cutting Room’;

• Violet Strabismus, who turns purple after chewing the three-course-meal gum;

• Clarence Crump, Bertie Upside and Terence Roper who each cram a whole mouthful of ‘warming candies’ and overheat;

• Elvira Entwhistle, who falls foul of the squirrels in the Nut Room.

Charlie Bucket climbs into a ‘chocolate boy’ mould in the Easter Egg room and is encased in chocolate. He is taken to Mr Wonka’s house as a present for Freddie Wonka (Mr Wonka’s son) and, whilst there, witnesses a burglary. As a reward for helping to catch the burglars, Mr Wonka gives him his own sweet shop, ‘Charlie’s Chocolate Shop’.

RD 2/7/2 Typescript, titled ‘Charlie’s Chocolate Boy’ [1961]

The number of tickets per week is reduced from ten to seven. The lucky finders in this story (with their exits) were:

Augustus Pottle – falls into chocolate river, and goes to the Choc Fudge room

Miranda Mary Piker – ditto, and goes to the Peanut Brittle room

Violet Beauregarde – turns purple after chewing gum

Henry Trout – climbs in a vanilla fudge wagon

Marvin Prune – [pages missing from draft, so we never find out what happens to him]

Veruca Salt – tipped down the garbage chute in the Nut Room

Ghostly voices recite the poems after each child’s exit. The workers in the factory are simply described as ‘white-coated assistants’.

[RD 2/7/3 is a bundle of duplicate discarded chapters (typed) from the end of the story in RD 2/7/2. These chapters were not re-used or revised in RD 2/7/4.]

RD 2/7/4 Untitled manuscript – an incomplete draft [1962]

The seven children in this draft are given distinct characteristics, which Roald Dahl listed on the first page, as follows:

Charlie Bucket – a nice boy

Augustus Gloop – a greedy boy

Marvin Prune – a conceited boy [we never find out what happens to him, as his exit isn’t included in this draft, and he was then dropped]

Herpes Trout – a television-crazy boy

Miranda Mary Piker – a girl who is allowed to DO anything she wants

Veruca Salt – a girl who is allowed to HAVE anything she wants

Violet Beauregarde – a girl who chews gum all day long.

Charlie’s grandparents are introduced for the first time in this draft. (Previously only his parents were mentioned as they accompanied him on the factory tour.) Grandpa Joe emerges as the expert on all things Wonka as he was one of the former workers in the factory. There are only seven Golden Tickets in total (not seven every week) and the finding of the tickets is made much more important in this draft.

Tiny people called ‘Whipple-Scrumpets’ are introduced as Mr Wonka’s workforce, reciting the poems as each child leaves.

RD 2/7/5 Manuscript, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ [1962]

This is the first draft to have this title. It continues the story of RD 2/7/4 (which cut out after the exit of Augustus Gloop) and contains six children only – Marvin Prune has been dropped.

Charlie inherits the chocolate factory at the end of the story as all the other children have been eliminated.

RD 2/7/6 Typescript, titled, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ [1964]

‘Miranda Mary Piker’ is finally dropped in this draft, leaving the five children of the published story. The ‘Whipple-Scrumpets’ are re-named ‘Oompa Loompas all the way through.

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You can become a fan of Roald Dahl, the Roald Dahl Museum and the Roald Dahl Foundation on facebook, if you like.

Happy Weekend to you all!