A splendiferous read: Ian McKellen reads Roald Dahl’s letters to young fan.

September 13, 2016 will mark 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl, one of the world’s greatest storytellers. One of the most spendiferous storytellers; a man who’s inspired countless children (and adults) to lose themselves in his fantabulous stories.

Just recently at a Letters Live event, Ian McKellen read two letters that Roald Dahl had written to a young fan. It was 1967 and a girl named Elizabeth wrote to her favourite author, Roald Dahl, asking for advice as she was having trouble settling into her new school. Dahl replied; now Mckellen reads the letters Elizabeth received. Video: The Guardian

To decode Dahl’s letters above (because let’s face it, some of his words can be baffling!), we may need the dictionary that was specifically designed to help us decipher all those words Dahl invented – The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary! However, this is not an ordinary dictionary …

Lots of dictionaries tell you what an ‘alligator’ is, or how to spell ‘balloon’ but they won’t explain the difference between a ‘ringbeller’ and a ‘trogglehumper’, or say why witches need ‘gruntles eggs’ or suggest a word for the shape of a ‘Knid’. This dictionary does all those things. All the words that Roald Dahl invented are here, like ‘biffsquiggled’ and ‘whizzpopping’. You’ll also find out where words came from, rhyming words, synonyms and lots of alternatives for words that are overused.

Explore all of Roald Dahl’s phizz-whizzing books here!

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About the Contributor

Anastasia Hadjidemetri

Anastasia Hadjidemetri is the former editor of The Booktopian and star of Booktopia's weekly YouTube show, Booked with Anastasia. A big reader and lover of books, Anastasia relishes the opportunity to bring you all the latest news from the world of books.