Roald Dahl's Mischief and Mayhem

by Roald Dahl

Overview

Pranks, tricks, mischief, and more in this ideal companion book to Roald Dahl's beloved novels! 

Professional tricksters put your cunning to the test. Inside this wicked little book you'll find step-by-step instructions for making mischief and mayhem as well as outrageous jokes, fiendish quizzes, and a few smelly surprises. Includes extracts from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Witches, and more. Like The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets, this book is a wonderful complement to Roald Dahl novels, with tons of great extras fans will love. It’s the perfect way to complete your Dahl collection!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780147513557
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/14/2015
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	549,491
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Date of Birth:

September 13, 1916

Date of Death:

November 23, 1990

Place of Birth:

Llandaff, Wales, England

Place of Death:

Oxford, England

Read an Excerpt

Yes, you. Stop right there. Don’t move. Are you an adult? Oh, dear. I’m sorry. This book is absolutely NOT meant for you. Kindly close the pages and go and do something grown-up instead. (Perhaps you could make a roast dinner with a hundred vegetables or creosote a fence or something.) Off you go. Have they gone? Good. Hello, non-adult! This book is meant for YOU. But be warned. It contains mischief and mayhem of such extreme naughtiness that you will need the cunning of Fantastic Mr Fox and the cleverness of Matilda to continue. You’re cunning AND clever? Excellent. We’ll get along just fine. Now, read on.

If you’ve bought, borrowed or been given this TRULY NAUGHTY book, then you surely already know of Roald Dahl. But, just in case you’re one of the 27 people on the planet who haven’t heard of him, let me tell you a little more.

ROALD DAHL was ONE of THE BEST STORYTELLERS EVER.

There. Done. I beg your pardon? You’d like to know even more than that? Well, why didn’t you say so?

Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 to Norwegian parents. He had four sisters. Sadly, both his father and his eldest sister died when he was very young. And then when he wasn’t much older – just nine years old – his mother sent him away to boarding school in England. Roald Dahl hated it so much that he pretended to have appendicitis so that he would be sent home. He was sent home.

But when he was found out he was sent back to school again.

In between detention and homework and being achingly homesick, Roald spent the rest of his school years trying to outwit his VERY STRICT teachers and the FORMIDABLE matron. And testing new chocolate bars for a VERY FAMOUS chocolate company. Luckily, he also loved making up stories. (He wrote it all down in a book called Boy, if you’d like to find out EVEN MORE.)

The rest of Roald Dahl’s life is like something out of a storybook too. He worked in London, which was chilly, and Africa, which wasn’t. He flew fighter-planes in the Second World War, which was very scary. (Unfortunately, he crashed one in the desert, which was even scarier.) He was a spy. Shhhh. And THEN he became a writer. Phew.

Roald Dahl wrote stories that were funny and amazing and scary and sad. There were unlikely heroes and fearsome villains. There were funny bits and not-so-funny bits and buckets and buckets of MISCHIEF. And MAYHEM.

Don’t forget the mayhem. Was it his time at boarding school that turned him into a trickster? Was it his fabulously dark sense of humour? Was it just because he liked making people laugh? Who knows? Roald Dahl, that’s who.

Perhaps you’ve already read some of Roald Dahl’s books? (If not, why not? Go to your nearest library straight away, please.) If so, you’ll know that they are chock full of HILARIOUS tricks. Have you ever read one of his particularly mischievous tricks and – after checking that no one is watching you, of course – thought, I could do that?You have? Marvellous. The thing is MOST GROWN-UPS have read Roald Dahl’s books too. (And if they haven’t, then they’re obviously numpties and not worth tricking.) So the last thing you want to do is copy one of his tricks exactly, because everyone will be expecting you to, say, superglue a hat to their head or turn their hair platinum blond just like Matilda. However, if you take one of Roald Dahl’s tricks and turn it into something just a LITTLE BIT different, then the results can be AMAZING.

Go on, do it.

Roald Dahl would.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Roald Dahl's Mischief and Mayhem"
by .
Copyright © 2015 Roald Dahl.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

2014-12-06
Attention, pranksters in search of inspiration! Learn from a master with this mix of extracted passages, quizzes and fresh, sometimes even feasible, exploits.Warning adults away at the outset, Woodward begins with a biographical sketch. She then goes on to alternate pranktastic highlights from Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Boy, Fantastic Mr. Fox and other works with suggestions for (somewhat) less destructive enrichment activities. The latter feature totally arbitrary difficulty ratings and range from fitting a jelly worm into a peach to such less-likely tricks as capturing a dodo—"YOU WILL NEED: One time machine. One sherry trifle. One net"— or a Vermicious Knid. One particularly fiendish prank instructs readers to render a computer mouse inoperative with a small piece of sticky tape. For changes of pace, frequent quizzes challenge readers to pick from a list the revolting items that were in Mr Twit's beard and like diversions. As ever, Blake's scribbled vignettes add suitably frolicsome notes. Along with tempting hesitant fans—"Go on, do it. Roald Dahl would"—this sampler may persuade "the 27 people on the planet who haven't heard of him" to a better acquaintance. A properly subversive spinoff. (answers section) (Humor. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews