Roald Dahl (1916–1990) published children's novels over a period of three decades, from the early 1960s to 1991. This page lists every major Roald Dahl children's book in publication order, with age guidance, a brief description and links to free reading quizzes.
Roald Dahl Children's Books — Publication Order
#1
🍑 James and the Giant Peach
1961 · Ages 7+Dahl's first full-length children's novel. James escapes his horrible aunts inside a magical giant peach, accompanied by a cast of extraordinary insect characters. A classic adventure story with dark comedy and enormous heart.
KS2 QuizSummary#2
🍫 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
1964 · Ages 8+The novel that made Dahl's name as a children's author. Poor Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket to tour Willy Wonka's magical factory — where each bad child meets a comic but fitting fate.
KS2 QuizSummary#3
☝️ The Magic Finger
1966 · Ages 6+A short, sharp environmental fable. A girl's magic finger fires at people who make her angry — with unexpected results for a family of hunters.
KS2 QuizSummary#4
🦊 Fantastic Mr Fox
1970 · Ages 6+Three horrible farmers versus one brilliant fox. A short, fast, completely satisfying read. Perfect for Years 2–4.
KS2 QuizSummary#5
🏆 Danny the Champion of the World
1975 · Ages 8+Dahl's most personal and most gentle novel. The love between Danny and his father is the heart of the story; the poaching plot is the entertainment.
KS2 QuizSummary#6
🐊 The Enormous Crocodile
1978 · Ages 5+A short, brilliantly illustrated picture book. The Enormous Crocodile wants to eat children; the other animals stop him. Perfect for Reception to Year 2.
KS2 QuizSummary#7
😈 The Twits
1980 · Ages 6+Mr and Mrs Twit are magnificently horrible. Short chapters, disgusting pranks and a deeply satisfying revenge ending.
KS2 QuizSummary#8
🎪 The BFG
1982 · Ages 7+The Big Friendly Giant and Sophie must stop the other man-eating giants. The BFG's invented language (Gobblefunk) is one of the joys of children's literature.
KS2 QuizSummaryVocabulary#9
🧙 The Witches
1983 · Ages 8+Real witches look like ordinary women. A young boy discovers their annual congress and must find a way to stop them. Dark, funny and genuinely frightening.
KS2 QuizSummaryThemes#10
📖 Boy: Tales of Childhood
1984 · Ages 10+Dahl's autobiography of his childhood — the boarding school experiences that clearly shaped his fiction. Essential reading for anyone who loves his novels.
KS3 QuizSummary#11
🧪 George's Marvellous Medicine
1981 · Ages 6+George makes a new medicine for his horrible grandmother. The results are spectacularly comic. Short, anarchic and very funny.
KS2 QuizSummary#12
🐢 Esio Trot
1990 · Ages 6+Mr Hoppy is in love with Mrs Silver and her tortoise. A gentle, warm love story with a brilliant backwards-spelling conceit.
KS2 QuizSummary#13
📚 Matilda
1988 · Ages 8+Dahl's masterpiece. The story of an extraordinary girl, a wonderful teacher and the most terrifying headmistress in fiction. Rich in themes of education, power and justice.
KS2 QuizSummaryThemes#14
🌲 The Minpins
1991 · Ages 5+Dahl's final book — a short, magical story about a boy who discovers tiny people living inside the hollow trees of a forbidden forest. Ends with one of Dahl's most quoted lines.
KS2 QuizSummaryRoald Dahl — A Brief Biography
Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916 in Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents. His father died when Dahl was three, and several siblings died in childhood. These early losses, combined with difficult experiences at English boarding schools (he attended Llandaff Cathedral School and Repton), clearly shaped the dark edge of his fiction.
He served as an RAF fighter pilot in World War Two and was seriously injured in a crash in Libya in 1940. He began writing after the war — first for adults, then for children. His first children's book, James and the Giant Peach, appeared in 1961. He went on to write fourteen major children's novels and many short stories.
Dahl died on 23 November 1990 in Oxford at the age of 74. His books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide and continue to be among the most read in UK primary schools.
Which Roald Dahl Book First?
Ages 5–7: The Enormous Crocodile, The Minpins, Esio Trot
Ages 7–9: Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, George's Marvellous Medicine
Ages 9–11: Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, Danny the Champion of the World
Ages 10+: Boy: Tales of Childhood
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Roald Dahl's first children's book?
James and the Giant Peach (1961) is widely considered Dahl's first full-length children's novel, though he had published some shorter children's stories before this.
What was Roald Dahl's last book?
The Minpins, published in 1991 (the year after his death), was Dahl's final children's book. It is a short, magical story with illustrations by Patrick Benson.
Is Roald Dahl appropriate for primary school?
Yes. The vast majority of Dahl's children's books are widely and enthusiastically used in UK primary schools from Reception through Year 6. His books appear on KS2 reading lists across the country and several are studied at GCSE.
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