This year Penguin Young Readers and the Roald Dahl Literary Estate are celebrating 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl —the world’s number one storyteller.
Roald's imagination has transported millions of readers into other worlds, whether on the hunt for a golden ticket, or meeting friendly giants. These stories have brought generations together, and continue to be a staple in our libraries, schools, and homes. As part of the celebration, Penguin Young Readers has released brand new covers for his books. I'm beyond excited and honored to be able to share with you the new cover for Esio Trot and an excerpt.
Excerpt from Esio Trot p9-23
Mr Hoppy lived in a small flat high up in a tall concrete
building. He lived alone. He had always been a lonely man and now that he was
retired from work he was more lonely than ever.
There were
two loves in Mr Hoppy’s life. One was the flowers he grew on his balcony. They
grew in pots and tubs and baskets, and in summer the little balcony became a
riot of colour. Mr Hoppy’s second love was a secret he kept entirely to
himself.
The balcony
immediately below Mr Hoppy’s jutted out a good bit further from the building
than his own, so Mr Hoppy always had a fine view of what was going on down
there. This balcony belonged to an attractive middle-aged lady called Mrs
Silver. Mrs Silver was a widow who also lived alone. And although she didn’t know
it, she was the object of Mr Hoppy’s secret love. He had loved her from his
balcony for many years, but he was a very shy man and he had never been able to
bring himself to give her even the smallest hint of his love.
Every
morning, Mr Hoppy and Mrs Silver exchanged polite conversation, the one looking
down from above, the other looking up, but that was as far as it ever went. The
distance between their balconies might not have been more than a few yards, but
to Mr Hoppy it seemed like a million miles. He longed to invite Mrs Silver up
for a cup of tea and a biscuit, but every time he was about to form the words
on his lips, his courage failed him. As I said, he was a very very shy man.
Oh, if
only, he kept telling himself, if only he could do something tremendous like
saving her life or rescuing her from a gang of armed thugs, if only he could
perform some great feat that would make him a hero in her eyes. If only…
The trouble
with Mrs Silver was that she gave all her love to somebody else, and that somebody
was a small tortoise named Alfie. Everyday, when Mr Hoppy looked over his
balcony and saw Mrs Silver whispering endearments to Alfie and stroking his
shell, he felt absurdly jealous. He wouldn’t even have minded becoming a
tortoise himself if it meant Mrs. Silver stroking his shell each morning and
whispering endearments to him.
Alfie had
been with Mrs Silver for years and he lived on her balcony summer and winter.
Planks had been placed around the sides of the balcony so that Alfie could walk
about without toppling over the edge, and in one corner there was a little
house into which Alfie would crawl every night to keep warm.
When the
colder weather came along in November, Mrs Silver would fill Alfie’s house with
dry hay, and the tortoise would crawl in there and bury himself deep under the
hay and go to sleep for months on end without food or water. This is called
hibernating.
In early
spring, when Alfie felt the warmer weather through his shell, he would wake up
and crawl very slowly out of his house onto the balcony. And Mrs Silver would
clap her hands with joy and cry out, “Welcome back, my darling one! Oh, how I
have missed you!”
It was at
times like these that Mr Hoppy wished more than ever that he could change
places with Alfie and become a tortoise.
Now we come
to a certain bright morning in May when something happened that changed and
indeed electrified Mr Hoppy’s life. He was leaning over his balcony rail
watching Mrs Silver serving Alfie his breakfast.
“Here’s the
heart of lettuce for you, my lovely,” she was saying. “And here’s a slice of
fresh tomato and a piece of crispy celery.”
“Good
morning, Mrs Silver,” Mr Hoppy said. “Alfie’s looking well this morning.”
“Isn’t he
gorgeous!” Mrs Silver said, looking up at him and beaming at him.
“Absolutely
gorgeous,” Mr Hoppy said, not meaning it. And now, as he looked down at Mrs
Silver’s smiling face gazing up into his own, he thought for the thousandth
time how pretty she was, how sweet and gentle and full of kindness, and his
heart ached with love.
“I do so
wish he would grow a little faster,”
Mrs Silver was saying. “Every spring, when he wakes up from his winter sleep, I
weigh him on the kitchen scales. And do you know that in all the eleven years
I’ve had him he’s not gained more than three
ounces! That’s almost nothing!”
“What does
he weigh now?” Mr Hoppy asked her.
“Just about
thirteen ounces,” Mrs Silver answered. “About as much as a grapefruit.”
“Yes, well,
tortoises are very slow growers,” Mr Hoppy said solemnly. “But they can live
for a hundred years.”
“I know
that,” Mrs Silver said. “But I do so wish he would grow just a little bit
bigger. He’s such a tiny wee fellow.”
“He seems
just fine as he is,” Mr Hoppy said.
“No, he’s not just fine!” Mrs Silver cried. “Try
to think how miserable it must make him feel to be so titchy! Everyone wants to
grow up.”
“You really
would love him to grow bigger,
wouldn’t you?” Mr Hoppy said, and even as he said it his mind suddenly went click and an amazing idea came rushing
into his head.
“Of course
I would!” Mrs Silver cried. “I’d give anything
to make it happen! Why, I’ve seen pictures of giant tortoises that are so huge
people can ride on their backs! If Alfie were to see those he’d turn green with
envy!”
Mr Hoppy’s
mind was spinning like a flywheel. Here, surely, was his big chance! Grab it,
he told himself. Grab it quick!
“Mrs
Silver,” he said. “I do actually happen to know how to make tortoises grow
faster, if that’s what you really want.”
“You do?”
she cried. “Oh, please tell me! Am I feeding him the wrong things?”
“I worked
in North Africa once,” Mr Hoppy said. “That’s where all these tortoises in
England come from, and a bedouin tribesman told me the secret.”
“Tell me!”
cried Mrs Silver. “I beg you to tell me, Mr Hoppy! I’ll be your slave for
life.”
When he
heard the words your slave for life,
a little shiver of excitement swept through Mr Hoppy. “Wait there,” he said.
“I’ll have to go in and write something down for you.”
In a couple
of minutes Mr Hoppy was back on the balcony with a sheet of paper in his hand.
“I’m going to lower it to you on a bit of string,” he said, “or it might blow
away. Here it comes.”
Mrs Silver
caught the paper and held it up in front of her. This is what she read:
ESIO TROT, ESIO TROT,
TEG REGGIB REGGIB!
EMOC NO, ESIO TROT,
WORG PU, FFUP PU,
TOOHS PU!
GNIRPS PU, WOLB PU,
LLEWS PU!
EGROG! ELZZUG! FFUTS!
PLUG!
TUP NO TAF, ESIO
TROT, TUP NO TAF!
TEG NO, TEG NO! ELBBOG DOOF!
copyright © Quentin Blake, reprinted with permission from Penguin Young Readers
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was one of the world’s most imaginative, successful and beloved storytellers. He was born in Wales of Norwegian parents and spent much of his childhood in England. After establishing himself as a writer for adults with short story collections such as Kiss Kiss and Tales of the Unexpected, Roald Dahl began writing children's stories in 1960 while living with his family in both the U.S. and in England. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.
Roald
Dahl’s first children’s story, The
Gremlins, was a story about little creatures that were responsible for the
various mechanical failures on airplanes. The
Gremlins came to the attention of both First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who loved
to read the story to her grandchildren, and Walt Disney, with whom Roald Dahl
had discussions about the production of a movie.
Roald
Dahl was inspired by American culture and by many of the most quintessential
American landmarks to write some of his most memorable passages, such as the thrilling final scenes in James and the Giant Peach - when the peach lands on the Empire
State Building! Upon
the publication of James and the Giant
Peach, Roald Dahl began work on the story that would later be published as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and
today, Roald Dahl’s stories are available in 58 languages and, by a
conservative estimate, have sold more than 200 million copies.
Roald
Dahl also enjoyed great success for the screenplays he wrote for both the James
Bond film You Only Live Twice in 1967
and for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
released one year later, which went on to become a beloved family film. Roald Dahl’s popularity continues to increase
as his fantastic novels, including James
and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
delight an ever-growing legion of fans.
Two
charities have been founded in Roald Dahl’s memory: the first charity, Roald
Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, created in 1991, focuses on making life
better for seriously ill children through the funding of specialist nurses,
innovative medical training, hospitals, and individual families across the UK.
The
second charity, The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre – a unique cultural,
literary and education hub – opened in June 2005 in Great Missenden where Roald
Dahl lived and wrote many of his best-loved works. 10% of income from Roald
Dahl books and adaptations are donated to the two Roald Dahl charities.
On
September 13, 2006, the first national Roald Dahl Day was celebrated, on what
would have been the author’s 90th birthday. The event proved such a
success that Roald Dahl Day is now marked annually all over the world. September
13, 2016 is Roald
Dahl 100, marking 100 years since the birth of the world’s number one
storyteller. There will be celebrations for Roald Dahl 100 throughout 2016,
delivering a year packed with gloriumptious treats and surprises for everyone.
*Excerpted
from NPR’s November 14, 2013 interview with Lucy Dahl, “Roald Dahl Wanted His Magical Matilda To Keep
Books Alive”
Lucy:
“I remember waking up in the night and going to the bathroom and seeing the
glow of the light in the little [writing] hut while it was still dark outside.
“His hut was a sacred place. ... We
were all allowed to go in there, but we only disturbed him when we absolutely
needed to because he used to say that his hut was his nest. You would walk in
and the smells were so familiar — that very old paper from filing cabinets. And
he sat in his mother's old armchair and then put his feet up on an old leather
trunk, and then on top of that he would get into an old down sleeping bag that
he would put his legs into to keep him warm.
“He then had a board that he made that
he would rest on the arms of the armchair as a desk table and on top of that he
had cut some billiard felt that was glued on top of it, and it was slightly
carved out for where his tummy was. When he sat down ... the first thing he did
was get a brush and brush the felt on his lap desk so it was all clean.
“He always had six pencils with an
electric sharpener that he would sharpen at the beginning of each session. His
work sessions were very strict — he worked from 10 until 12 every day and then
again from 3 until 5 every day. And that was it. Even if there was nothing to
write he would still, as he would say, ‘put his bottom on the chair.’"
ROALD DAHL 100 CELEBRATORY BLOG TOUR
September 5 - Peace Loves Books - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Excerpt
September 5 - The Compulsive Reader - Danny, The Champion of the World Review
September 5 - The Starry Eyed Revue - James and The Giant Peach Review
September 6 - Ex Libris Kate - The Witches Review
September 6 - Cracking The Cover - The Magic Finger Feature - Short Review and History
September 6 - Lost In Lit - The Witches Feature - Revisiting The Witches as an adult
September 7 - Cozy Reading Corner - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Excerpt
September 7 - The Plot Bunny - The Magic Finger Review
September 7 - Lilli's Reflections - The Twits Excerpt
September 8 - The Irish Banana - Matilda Review
September 8 - Ticket To Anywhere - Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 8 - Cuddlebuggery - Quentin Blake's Illustrations of Roald Dahl's Books Feature
September 8 - Beth Fish Reads - Going Solo Review
September 9 - Ravenous Reader - The BFG Excerpt
September 9 - Paper Cuts - The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me Excerpt
September 9 - The Lovely Books - The Witches Excerpt
September 9 - A Glass of Wine - James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 10 - Novel Novice - George's Marvelous Medicine Excerpt
September 10 - YA Bibliophile - Fantastic Mr. Fox Review
September 10 - Watercolor Moods - The Magic Finger Feature - Collage
September 11- Jessabella Reads - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Review
September 11- Who R U Blog - Charlie and the Glass Elevator Feature - Trivia
September 12 - Belle of the Library - The Twits Review
September 12 - Book Mania Life - George's Marvelous Medicine Review
September 12 - The Book Swarm - Danny, The Champion of the World Excerpt
September 12 - Book Belles - James and the Giant Peach Feature - Book to Movie
September 13- Roald's birthday! - Brittany's Book Rambles - Matilda Excerpt
September 13 - Roald's birthday! - Mundie Kids - The BFG Review
September 13 - Roald's birthday! - Read Now Sleep Later - Boy Excerpt
September 13 - Roald's birthday - Consumed By Books - Matilda Excerpt
September 13 - Roald's birthday - I Am A Reader - James and the Giant Peach Excerpt
September 14 - Belle's Bash - The BFG Excerpt
September 14 - WinterHaven Books - Esio Trot Excerpt
September 14 - A Book and A Latte - The Magic Finger Excerpt
September 14 - Hello Chelly - Matilda Feature - BookBags
September 14 - Loving Dem Books - Youtube Feature
September 15 - Writing My Own Fairy-Tale - George's Marvelous Medicine Review
September 15 - The Book Bandit -The Giraffe, and the Pelly and Me Review
September 15 - Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile - Esio Trot Review
September 15 - Coffee, Books and Me - Top Ten Reasons You Should Read Roald Dahl's Books
September 16 - Undeniably Book Nerdy - Boy Review
September 16 - Supernatural Snark - James and the Giant Peach Review
September 16 - My Friend Amy - Going Solo Excerpt
September 16 - The Quiet Concert - Danny, the Champion of the World Review
September 17 - Book Briefs - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
September 17 - Andi's ABCs - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Feature - ABCs
September 17 - Just Another Rabid Reader - The Magic Finger Review
September 17 - Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia - Roald Dahl Feature - Food Feature
September 18 - Bumbles and Fairy-Tales - Matilda Feature - Reading With Dad
September 18 - Addicted 2 Novels - Esio Trot Review
September 18 - Pure Imagination - Fantastic Mr. Fox Excerpt
September 18 - Green Bean Teen Queen - What Roald Dahl Means To Me Feature
September 19 - Bookiemoji - The Witches Excerpt
September 19 - Shooting Stars Blog - Roald Dahl Feature - Etsy Products
September 19 - Alexa Loves Books - Matilda Feature - Style Files
September 19 - Nightly Reading - Matilda Review
