The writings of Welsh author Roald Dahl have been loved by readers both young and old for generations. From Matilda and James and the Giant Peach to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG, these classics have transported millions of fans to the many wondrous worlds created by Dahl, like Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory and the neverending tunnels burrowed inside a single peach. But what many people may not realize is that much of his inspiration came from his childhood surroundings in Wales.
Dahl was born on September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, a district in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, the country’s largest city. He lived there until the age of nine, when his parents sent him to a boarding school in England. But despite the distance, Dahl’s youthful exploits—placing a dead mouse in a jar of candies and replacing the tobacco in a relative's pipe with goat droppings—carried over into some of his most popular works.
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