Encourage a love of reading with Roald Dahl

Who is Roald Dahl?

Roald Dahl wrote many phizzwhizzingly brilliant children’s books in his time, including Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. He also invented over 500 hilariously unique words and character names. His first inspiration for writing came when a local chocolate factory invited pupils to trial new chocolate bars - 35 years later, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was born. Did you know that Roald Dahl was also a spy, a fighter pilot, a chocolate historian and a medical inventor? What can’t this guy do?

Why do we love Roald Dahl stories?

Every Roald Dahl story is an unexpected adventure to the weirdest, wonkiest and most wonderful world. Adventure on a giant peach, stand up to your beastly headteacher or galavant off to a place where only giants live. All of his books contain ingredients that are delicious to kids, and we know (in fact it’s been proven!) that when little ones love stories, they’ll love reading. Those familiar characters like Matilda and the Grand High Witch are crucial in increasing their enjoyment of a story, that’s just one of the reasons we have so many well-known Roald Dahl characters in our Tonie crew.

Why are Roald Dahl stories good for kids?

So let’s hear from the people who know their stuff: The National Literacy Trust says that audiobooks can help build reading engagement with children. Using the Roald Dahl Tonies to complement the books is a great way to help chiddlers become super-charged readers. 

The stories contain an incredible range of words, allowing little ones to enhance their vocabulary. They also let children explore their imagination freely and get them excited to find out what happens next. Even the most reluctant reader’s interest can be sparked, promise. The repetition in the Roald Dahl Tonies are perfect for helping boost memory and spelling… Anyone else remember how to spell difficulty from Miss Honey’s lesson of Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs FFI, Mrs C, Mrs U, Mrs LTY? The proof is in the pudding. Yum.

Fun activity pack for Roald Dahl Story Day with The Enormous Crocodile 

Here are some fantabulous ideas to bring the Roald Dahl Tonie to life for your little listeners on Roald Dahl Story Day. Especially made for titchy toddlers, this downloadable pack has ways to learn, craft and play with The Enormous Crocodile. So pop on the Enormous Crocodile Tonie and get busy whilst they listen along…

1. Little and Large: Circle the biggest animal

2. Crocodile Colouring: Grab a pen or pencil and help colour him in

3. Wonderful Words: Pair each word with its matching picture

4. Wild Relay Race: Practise moving like each animal 

5. Craft with Croc: Make your own Enormous Crocodile

6. Counting in the Jungle: Count the animals and trace the numbers

Download the Roald Dahl Story Day activity pack here...

We’ll leave you with this quote from Matilda: “Don’t worry about the bits you can’t understand. Sit back and allow the words to wash around you, like music.”