List of Books in Order by Author Roald Dahl
By Lily | Published 2 September 2022 | Book titles and covers are affiliate links.
What would children’s literature be without mention of Roald Dahl who has written some of the most beloved children’s books of all time? Here are the books in order of his popular books.
Roald Dahl was as prolific a writer as he was creative, releasing fiction and poetry for children and short stories and non-fiction for adults. Over the course of his long career, the British novelist wrote many best-selling books sprinkled with made-up words set in richly imagined worlds, taking place from a mysterious chocolate factory to the heart of an impossibly huge peach — even outer space.
The wonderful world of Roald Dahl is sharp, irreverent, sometimes violent, sometimes gross, and nearly always funny as hell. His creativity and mischievous mind have struck a chord among young readers and adults alike. More than 20 years after his death we are still entranced by his inventiveness and brilliant children's books.
Dahl is responsible for some of children’s literature’s most memorable characters, from sadistic candymaker Willy Wonka to telekinetic Matilda to the sly, resourceful Fantastic Mr. Fox — many of whom have now been immortalized onscreen as well as on the written page.
Here are Roald Dahl’s books in chronological order:
1961 - James and the Giant Peach
1964 - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
1966 - The Magic Finger
1970 - Fantastic Mr. Fox
1972 - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
1975 - Danny the Champion of the World
1978 - The Enormous Crocodile
1980 - The Twits
1981 - George’s Marvelous Medicine
1982 - The BFG
1983 - The Witches
1985 - The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
1988 - Matilda
1990 - Esio Trot
1991 - The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
1991 - The Minpins
Roald Dahl Books List - Children’s Fiction
James and the Giant Peach
Goodreads Rating: 4.02 | Published 1961 | Ages 5+
James Henry Trotter's parents unexpectedly die and leave him orphaned. He is sent to live with the most horrible aunts and is very lonely until one day something peculiar happens.
When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow and GROW and GROW and before long it's as big as a house. Inside that peach, James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit, and when he crawls inside, he meets a bunch of marvelous oversized friends — Old Green-Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, Miss Spider, and more.
With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away and the exciting adventure begins for James and the oversized insects as they ride it across the ocean to New York City.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Goodreads Rating: 4.44, Published 1964 | Ages 5+
One miraculous moment changes Charlie Bucket's life forever. Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. The four winners are Augustus Gloop, a great big greedy nincompoop; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer; and Mike Teavee, a TV addict.
Charlie Bucket, who eats cabbage soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, finds the fifth Golden Ticket whisking him into Willy Wonka's magical chocolate factory. With a chocolate river, crafty squirrels, and mysterious Oompa Loompas, Mr Wonka's chocolate factory is the strangest, most magnificent place Charlie has ever seen.
Charlie, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready is about to embark on the wildest time of his life! But what other surprises are in store for the lucky ticket winners?
The Magic Finger
Goodreads Rating: 3.70, Published 1966 | Ages 4+
To the Gregg family, hunting is just plain fun. To the girl who lives next door, it's just plain horrible. She tries to be polite. She tries to talk them out of it, but the Greggs only laugh at her. Then one day the Greggs go too far, and the little girl turns her Magic Finger on them.
When she's very, very angry, the little girl's Magic Finger takes over. She really can’t control it, and now it's turned the Greggs into birds! Before they know it, the Greggs are living in a nest, and that's just the beginning of their problems.
Fantastic Mr Fox
Goodreads Rating: 4.07, Published 1970 | Ages 5+
The story of three horrid farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, and their attempts to kill the fox who is eating their poultry.
Someone's been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it's Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded.
What they don't know is that they're not dealing with just any fox. Mr. Fox, the head of the fox family, is rather clever and a good digger as well. He would rather die than surrender and only the most fantastic plan can save him now.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Goodreads Rating: 3.68 | Published 1972 | Ages 7+
Last seen flying through the sky in a giant elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket's back for another adventure. When the giant elevator picks up speed, Charlie, Willy Wonka, and the gang are sent hurtling through space and time.
Visiting the world’' first space hotel, battling the dreaded Vermicious Knids, and saving the world are only a few stops along this remarkable, intergalactic joyride.
Danny, the Champion of the World
Goodreads Rating: 4.09 | Published 1975 | Ages 5+
Danny has a life any boy would love. He lives with his father in an old gypsy caravan permanently parked beside the gas station they run. They are poor but totally happy. He's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell.
But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. He used to poach pheasants from the land of the local nasty rich fellow. Danny learns about the secrets of poachers and soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude.
Danny devises a fantastic plan for the biggest pheasant heist ever. If they can pull it off, Danny will truly be the champion of the world.
The Enormous Crocodile
Goodreads Rating: 3.78 | Published 1978 | Ages 4+
The Enormous Crocodile is a short and readable story about a horrid and greedy brute who loves to steal into town to munch on children for lunch. However, the other jungle animals always call the alarm before he can succeed.
But the other animals have had enough of his cunning tricks, so they scheme to get the better of this foul fiend, once and for all! In the end, the elephant ejects the crocodile by flinging him all the way to the sun, where “he was sizzled up like sausage!”
This picture book edition has a beautiful full-color interior and large trim to feature Quentin Blake's iconic art.
The Twits
The eighth book in the beloved and award-winning school hamster series!
Goodreads Rating: 3.97 | Published 1980 | Ages 5+
A short book about Mr. and Mrs. Twit, the smelliest, nastiest, ugliest people in the world with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Mr. and Mrs. Twit are generally abusive to each other but even worse to their pet monkeys. The monkeys enact an elaborate revenge upon them during which Mr. and Mrs. Twit come down with the Dreaded Shrinks and disappear altogether.
In the end, this is simply a revenge fantasy, as the Twits get what’s coming to them.
They hate everything—except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, stand on their heads all day. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough. They don't just want out, they want revenge.
George’s Marvellous Medicine
Goodreads Rating: 4.03 | Published 1981 | Ages 5+
George Kranky's Grandma is a miserable grouch who is the most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. One Saturday morning, George is in charge of giving Grandma her medicine and he knows just what to put into it. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her grouchiness so he concocts a nasty potion to substitute for her nightly medicine.
And George’s Grandma is in for the surprise of her life with many amazing things happening as a result of his mixture and also to the farm animals who get a dose. In the end Grandma shrinks so much she disappears altogether.
The BFG
Goodreads Rating: 4.22 | Published 1982 | Ages 6+
Little orphan Sophie is kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night by a prowling giant. Luckily he turns out to be the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), and not one of those nasty child-eating ones. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast.
The BFG is a complex and fascinating character, with his huge swiveling ears and his unique way of speaking. He takes Sophie to his cave and tells her about how he collects nice dreams and distributes them to sleeping children. Together they plot to stop the other giants, who go forth every night to snack on unsuspecting humans. The only solution they can think of is to tell the Queen of England!
The Witches
Goodreads Rating: 4.17 | Published 1983 | Ages 6+
A young boy stumbles across a witches’ convention and overhears them plotting to do away with all the children in England. With the help of his fearless grandmother, he foils their plans but suffers from one of their spells nonetheless.
Extremely gruesome, ghoulish, and gross, this tale doesn’t pull any punches. The witches, especially the head witch, are terrifying and we are told they could be anywhere, walking among us. The hero is changed by a potion into a mouse, and he doesn’t get turned back in the end (though he doesn’t seem to mind this in the least). A terrific adventure, but not for the squeamish.
Matilda
Goodreads Rating: 4.33 | Published 1988 | Ages 6+
Roald Dahl's Matilda is the world's most famous bookworm, no thanks to her ghastly parents. Her father thinks she's a little scab. Her mother spends all afternoon playing bingo. And her headmistress, Miss Trunchbull? She's the worst of all. She's a big bully, who thinks all her pupils are rotten and locks them in the dreaded Chokey.
Despite these beastly grownups trying to push her down, Matilda is an extraordinary girl with a magical mind. And she's had enough. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!
Children will love this book, as it’s about bad and foolish parents, nice and clever children, school politics, revenge, and the underdog coming out on top. Parents will like it for the emphasis on the value of learning to read.
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Goodreads Rating: 3.83 | Published 1985 | Ages 4+
A boy meets up with the new window-washers in town – a rather magical team of Giraffe, Pelican and Monkey. They don’t need a pail as they have a pelican with a bucket-sized beak. And with a monkey to do the washing and Billy as their manager, this business is destined for success.
He helps them get their first big break which turns out to be a doozy. The job to clean all 677 windows of the Hampshire House, owned by the richest man in all of England! That’s exciting enough, but along the way there are surprises and adventures beyond their wildest window-washing dreams.
Esio Trot
Goodreads Rating: 3.74 | Published 1990 | Ages 4+
Esio Trot is the story of how a shy older gentleman wins the lady of his dreams with ingenuity and a lot of tortoises.
Mr. Hoppy is in love with his neighbor, Mrs. Silver; but she is in love with someone else — Alfie, her pet tortoise. With all her attention focused on Alfie, Mrs. Silver doesn’t even know Mr. Hoppy is alive. And Mr. Hoppy is too shy to even ask Mrs. Silver over for tea.
Then one day Mr. Hoppy comes up with a brilliant idea to get Mrs. Silver's attention. If Mr. Hoppy's plan works, Mrs. Silver will certainly fall in love with him. After all, everyone knows the way to a woman’s heart is through her tortoise.
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (Posthumously)
Goodreads Rating: 3.83 | Published 1991 | Ages 10+
The Reverend Lee is suffering from a rare and acutely embarrassing condition: Back-to-Front Dyslexia. It affects only his speech, and this young vicar doesn’t realize he’s doing it, but the parishioners of Nibbleswicke are shocked and confused by seemingly outrageous comments.
Situations are manipulated, of course, to have him saying quite naughty things. Ie. Miss Twerp for Miss Prewt, Dog for God, “each of you stink” for “each of you knits”, and entreating people to “krap” by the side of the road instead of “park”. The worst language is “pis” for “sip” (re. communion wine).
At last, a cure is found and the mild-mannered vicar can resume normal service. Or at least as normal as is possible for a man who must walk backwards to be sure of talking forwards! A highly comic tale in the best Dahl tradition of craziness, written for the benefit of the Dyslexia Institute.
The Minpins (Posthumously)
Goodreads Rating: 3.89 | Published 1991 | Ages 5+
Little Billy strays into the forest, where he meets the Minpins - tiny people who live within the trees. The Minpins tell Billy about The Gruncher, who preys on them. So Billy embarks on a mission to rid the Minpins of their foe once and for all. He sets off on the back of a swan-to confront The Gruncher and to rid the forest of the beast by driving the fire-breather into a lake.
And we can’t forget Dahl’s poetry for children:
1982 - Revoting Rhymes
1983 - Dirty Beasts
1989 - Rhyme Stew
About Children’s Author Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British popular author of irreverent children's literature and short stories, a poet, and a wartime fighter pilot. Dahl was born in Wales to immigrant Norwegian parents and spent most of his life in England. He served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. Dahl's books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. Dahl has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".