Roald Dahl Books in Order
Explore Roald Dahl books in order, from classic children's stories to dark adult tales, with quick summaries, related series pages, and tips on where to start.
Last updated: June 11, 2026
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Publication Order
88 books
The Gremlins
by Roald Dahl
1943
RAF pilot Gus learns that the tiny gremlins blamed for wrecked aircraft may be real, and that they have their own grudge against humans. Dahl turns wartime folklore into a strange, energetic fantasy.
Over to You
by Roald Dahl
1946
These wartime stories draw on Dahl's experience as a flier and focus on danger, fear, and luck in the air. The mood is leaner and more serious than his children's fiction.
Some Time Never
by Roald Dahl
1948
Dahl's first adult novel imagines gremlins, war, and a bleak future shaped by humanity's talent for self-destruction. It is a strange mix of fantasy, satire, and early nuclear-age anxiety.
Someone Like You
by Roald Dahl
1953
An adult short-story collection where ordinary settings tilt suddenly into horror, irony, or black comedy. Bets, meals, marriages, and small obsessions all hide sharp teeth here.
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
by Roald Dahl
1956
A ghost anthology chosen and introduced by Dahl, gathering eerie tales by other writers that he especially admired. It is less about gore than atmosphere, unease, and old-fashioned chills.
Kiss Kiss
by Roald Dahl
1959
These adult stories are cool, funny, and deeply unsettling, with vanity, cruelty, and desire often leading straight to disaster. Dahl's twist endings hit especially hard here.
Skin and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1960
A later collection that gathers some of Dahl's darker adult tales, from strange bargains to grisly ironies. It is a good sampler of his macabre wit and carefully timed shocks.
James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl
1961
Orphaned James escapes his cruel aunts inside an enormous peach, joined by a band of oversized insect friends. Their trip turns into a joyous, perilous journey across sea and sky.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
by Roald Dahl
1964
Charlie Bucket finds a Golden Ticket and enters Willy Wonka's secret chocolate factory with four other children. Wonder, greed, and good manners collide in one of Dahl's most famous adventures.
Recommended by:
The Visitor
by Roald Dahl
1965
Uncle Oswald arrives at a house in search of pleasure and easy conquest, only to wander into a trap of his own making. One of Dahl's most scandalous adult tales.
The Magic Finger
by Roald Dahl
1966
A girl who hates hunting turns her mysterious power on the Gregg family after they kill birds for fun. The story is short, funny, and pointed about cruelty and empathy.
Selected Stories of Roald Dahl
by Roald Dahl
1968
A compact selection of Dahl's adult short fiction, chosen for suspense, wit, and nasty surprises. If you want the twist-ending side of his work, this is a solid place to start.
Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl
by Roald Dahl
1969
This volume brings together the stories from Someone Like You and Kiss Kiss in one place. It is a big dose of Dahl's adult fiction, stylish, sly, and often wicked.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
by Roald Dahl
1970
Mr Fox keeps stealing food from Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, three farmers who are tired of being outsmarted. What follows is a siege story with wit, tunneling, and family teamwork.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
by Roald Dahl
1972
The sequel begins the instant Charlie leaves the factory, sending Charlie, Wonka, and the Bucket family into space. It is stranger, faster, and even more chaotic than the first book.
Switch Bitch
by Roald Dahl
1974
Four adult stories about sex, vanity, and manipulation, told with Dahl's usual deadpan control and sting in the tail. This is firmly his most grown-up and least child-friendly side.
Danny
by Roald Dahl
1975
Danny lives in a caravan with his clever, loving father and thinks him the best dad in the world. Together they take on the rich bully Mr Hazell with a daring pheasant-poaching plan.
Parson's Pleasure
by Roald Dahl
1977
A smug antique dealer poses as a humble clergyman to trick country people out of valuable furniture. His perfect little con runs into one of Dahl's most brutal punch lines.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
by Roald Dahl
1977
Henry Sugar is a rich, aimless man who discovers a method for seeing without using his eyes. What begins as a selfish stunt turns into a story about discipline, luck, and change.
The Enormous Crocodile
by Roald Dahl
1978
A huge, greedy crocodile prowls the jungle inventing secret plans and clever tricks to eat a child. The other animals are not about to let him get away with it.
My Uncle Oswald
by Roald Dahl
1979
Uncle Oswald hatches a wildly shameless scheme involving seduction, famous men, and money. It is one of Dahl's most outrageous adult books, broad, bawdy, and full of nerve.
Tales of the Unexpected
by Roald Dahl
1979
A classic adult collection of Dahl's dark short fiction, full of smooth narrators, quiet menace, and final-page reversals. These are clever, nasty little stories that almost always spring a trap.
Recommended by:
Taste and Other Tales
by Roald Dahl
1979
A themed selection of adult stories built around appetite, pride, revenge, and sudden reversals. Like many Dahl collections, it turns ordinary conversation into danger very quickly.
A Roald Dahl Selection
by Roald Dahl
1980
Nine of Dahl's adult short stories, gathered as a brisk introduction to his darker side. Expect calm prose, nasty humor, and endings that flip the whole story in a sentence.
More Tales of the Unexpected
by Roald Dahl
1980
Another helping of twisty adult stories, with jealousy, greed, and bad impulses pushing people toward disaster. The pleasures here are suspense, economy, and the final snap shut.
New Tales of the Unexpected
by Roald Dahl
1980
A further selection of Dahl's adult suspense stories, built on deception, nerves, and the shock of a late reveal. It is easy to dip into and hard to trust.
The Twits
by Roald Dahl
1980
Mr and Mrs Twit are filthy, cruel, and forever playing spiteful tricks on each other and their animals. Their nastiness becomes the engine of one of Dahl's funniest short books.
The Way Up to Heaven and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1980
This collection leans into tension inside ordinary homes, marriages, and routines, then twists them just enough to become sinister. Dahl makes politeness feel positively dangerous.
George's Marvellous Medicine
by Roald Dahl
1981
George decides his foul grandmother needs a new medicine and mixes a wildly dangerous potion from everything he can find. The results are funny, alarming, and completely out of control.
Recommended by:
Revolting Rhymes
by Roald Dahl
1982
Dahl retells familiar fairy tales in bouncy verse, then gleefully wrecks their tidy endings. It is rude, musical, and one of his most quotable books.
The BFG
by Roald Dahl
1982
Sophie is snatched from her orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant and lands in a world of child-eating giants, dream-catching, and gobblefunk. Together they hatch a bold plan to stop the monsters for good.
Recommended by:
The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1982
A machine that can write fiction is only the start of this unsettling collection. Dahl mixes satire, greed, absurd invention, and dark humor with great control.
The Umbrella Man and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1982
A selection of Dahl tales about charming strangers, small cons, and terrible luck. The stories are brisk and playful, but there is always a sting close behind.
Dirty Beasts
by Roald Dahl
1983
This verse collection introduces a parade of unruly animals, most of them hungry, bad-tempered, or both. Quentin Blake's drawings and Dahl's rhymes make the whole thing gleefully gross.
The Best of Roald Dahl
by Roald Dahl
1983
A handpicked collection of Dahl's adult short fiction, chosen for suspense, dark comedy, and memorable twists. It is a strong sampler of the side of him many children never meet.
The Witches
by Roald Dahl
1983
A boy and his witch-hunting grandmother uncover a gathering of real witches led by the terrifying Grand High Witch. They are badly outnumbered, and the witches have a plan for every child in England.
Boy
by Roald Dahl
1984
Dahl's childhood memoir is packed with school stories, sweets, Norway trips, and the famous Great Mouse Plot. It reads with the same mischief and momentum as his fiction.
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
by Roald Dahl
1985
Billy meets a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey who run a ladderless window-cleaning company. Their odd jobs lead to a jewel thief and Billy's dream of opening a sweet shop.
The Great Switcheroo
by Roald Dahl
1985
A smug man devises an outrageous bedroom plot that depends on vanity, deceit, and perfect timing. Dahl turns the premise into a dark adult farce with a nasty aftertaste.
Completely Unexpected Tales
by Roald Dahl
1986
This anthology rounds up more of Dahl's adult short fiction, where small choices and bad character traits spiral into trouble. The tone moves between sly comedy and real menace.
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
1986
The sequel to Boy follows Dahl into East Africa and then into World War II. It is a brisk memoir of work, flying, survival, and the accidents that changed his life.
Two Fables
by Roald Dahl
1986
Two short illustrated pieces let Dahl play with mock-moral fable form and animal absurdity. They are brief, odd, and knowingly silly, with his usual crooked smile.
A Second Roald Dahl Selection
by Roald Dahl
1987
Another short sampler of Dahl's adult fiction, chosen for bite, speed, and surprise. It is full of people who think they are in control until the last page proves otherwise.
Matilda
by Roald Dahl
1988
Matilda Wormwood is brilliant, bookish, and badly underestimated by her awful parents and the monstrous Miss Trunchbull. Her wit, courage, and unusual powers help her fight back.
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life
by Roald Dahl
1989
These adult country stories trade city nerves for farms, animals, sex, and sly rural comedy. The tone is earthy, funny, and often more tender than Dahl's darker collections.
Rhyme Stew
by Roald Dahl
1989
Another helping of Dahl verse, mixing new poems with rude jokes, odd creatures, and comic reversals. It is looser and more varied than Revolting Rhymes, but just as mischievous.
Esio Trot
by Roald Dahl
1990
Mr Hoppy loves his neighbor Mrs Silver but can only speak easily to her tortoise, Alfie. His plan to win her heart is sweet, sneaky, and very unlike Dahl's harsher books.
Memories with Food at Gipsy House
by Roald Dahl
1991
Part memoir and part cookbook, this book shares family recipes, kitchen memories, and the food life of the Dahls at home. It is warm, domestic, and full of personality.
Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety
by Roald Dahl
1991
A short safety booklet that uses cartoons, jokes, and plain warnings to tell children how dangerous trains and tracks can be. It is brisk, practical, and memorable.
The Minpins
by Roald Dahl
1991
Billy slips past the garden gate into a forbidden forest and meets the Minpins, tiny people living in the trees. Together they must outwit the terrifying Gruncher.
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
by Roald Dahl
1991
A kindly new vicar develops a comic kind of back-to-front dyslexia and starts saying exactly the wrong thing in church. It is short, silly, and written with affection.
My Year
by Roald Dahl
1993
Dahl moves through the seasons with memories, recipes, letters, and family routines from life at Gipsy House. It feels like a scrapbook of the year, funny in spots and quietly personal.
Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes
by Roald Dahl
1994
A children's cookbook built around the memorable food in Dahl's stories, from disgusting jokes to genuinely tempting treats. It is playful enough to read even before you cook.
Lamb to the Slaughter and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1995
This selection gathers some of Dahl's best-known adult tales of murder, irony, and revenge. The title story sets the tone, neat setup, calm voice, brutal payoff.
Edward the Conqueror and Other Stories
by Roald Dahl
1996
Cats, music, obsession, and eccentric belief all feature in this off-kilter collection of adult stories. Dahl keeps things elegant on the surface and deeply odd underneath.
Roald Dahl's Cookbook
by Roald Dahl
1996
A later edition of the Gipsy House food book, mixing recipes with anecdotes from family life. It is as much about eating and remembering as it is about cooking.
The Roald Dahl Treasury
by Roald Dahl
1997
A richly illustrated family anthology that samples Dahl's children's stories, poems, and characters in one volume. It is part celebration, part introduction, and easy to browse.
Further Tales of the Unexpected
by Roald Dahl
1999
More adult stories of nerves, tricks, and sudden reversals, collected under Dahl's best-known suspense banner. These are quick reads with a deliciously sharp snap at the end.
The Mildenhall Treasure
by Roald Dahl
1999
Based on a true story, this tells how an ordinary man unearthed a remarkable Roman silver hoard in Suffolk. Dahl treats the discovery with wonder, frustration, and a storyteller's eye.
Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes
by Roald Dahl
2001
A follow-up cookbook with more edible inventions drawn from Dahl's story worlds. It keeps the same mix of gross-out fun, recognizable characters, and kitchen play.
A Taste of the Unexpected
by Roald Dahl
2005
A short, tempting sampler of Dahl's adult fiction, chosen for tension, appetite, and surprise. It is built for readers who want quick shocks and crisp storytelling.
Songs and Verse
by Roald Dahl
2005
This collection gathers poems, rhymes, and lyrical pieces from across Dahl's work. It is a handy way to revisit his ear for sound, bounce, and comic menace.
Vile Verses
by Roald Dahl
2005
A slim volume of Dahl poems and comic verse, full of rude humor, sharp rhymes, and gleeful nastiness. It works best as a quick dip into his playful side.
Collected Short Stories
by Roald Dahl
2006
A broad gathering of Dahl's adult short fiction, from famous twist-ending classics to less familiar oddities. If you want the full dark, witty range, start here.
The Dahlmanac
by Roald Dahl
2006
A year-round grab bag of Dahl facts, jokes, quizzes, and snippets from his life and stories. It is designed for dipping into rather than reading straight through.
Dahlmanac 2
by Roald Dahl
2009
A follow-up miscellany of facts, jokes, quizzes, and bite-size pieces from Dahl's books and life. Like the first volume, it is made for browsing and quick bursts of fun.
More About Boy
by Roald Dahl
2009
A companion to Boy, this slim book adds photographs, letters, extra anecdotes, and background to Dahl's childhood world. It is a nice next step if the memoir leaves you wanting more.
Spotty Powder and other Splendiferous Secrets
by Roald Dahl
2010
A companion book to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, packed with trivia, behind-the-scenes material, and an extra chapter. It is made for readers who want to linger in Wonka's world.
The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets
by Roald Dahl
2010
This Charlie companion volume offers an extra chapter, trivia, games, and background from behind the factory gates. It is a treat for readers who want more Wonka after the novel ends.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Pop-Up Book
by Roald Dahl
2011
An interactive retelling of the classic story, with pop-ups and paper engineering that bring Wonka's factory to life. It is shorter than the novel but big on visual fun.
Roald Dahl's Marvellous Joke Book
by Roald Dahl
2011
A big collection of jokes, riddles, limericks, and comic bits aimed at children who like their humor noisy and slightly gross. It keeps Dahl's mischievous spirit front and center.
Genesis and Catastrophe
by Roald Dahl
2012
A worried mother prays that her frail newborn son will survive, while small details slowly point to the child's terrible future identity. It is short, tender, and chilling.
Roald Dahl's Fantabulous Facts
by Roald Dahl
2012
A brisk collection of trivia, jokes, quizzes, and bite-size pieces drawn from Dahl's life and story worlds. Good for browsing, dipping in, and finding a favorite odd fact.
Roald Dahl's Scrumdiddlyumptious Sticker Book
by Roald Dahl
2012
A sticker activity book filled with scenes, characters, and puzzles inspired by Dahl's stories. It is light, colorful fun rather than a storybook.
Three Tales of Magic and Mischief
by Roald Dahl
2012
Three Dahl stories are gathered here in one playful volume, linked by tricks, odd powers, and comic trouble. It is a handy sampler for younger readers.
Roald Dahl's Mischief and Mayhem
by Roald Dahl
2013
This playful spin-off mixes Dahl extracts, pranks, quizzes, and activities for readers who love the naughtiest parts of his books. It celebrates clever trouble without feeling mean.
Cruelty
by Roald Dahl
2016
A themed adult collection that gathers Dahl stories of malice, greed, and revenge. The fun comes from watching polite surfaces crack and nasty impulses take over.
Deception
by Roald Dahl
2016
A themed selection of adult stories about lies, manipulation, and people outsmarting one another. As ever with Dahl, the last move is usually the one that hurts most.
Lust
by Roald Dahl
2016
This collection groups Dahl's more sensual and adult stories around desire, vanity, and appetite. It is witty, provocative, and very far from his children's fiction.
Madness
by Roald Dahl
2016
These selected stories lean into obsession, fear, and states of mind slipping off balance. Dahl keeps the prose cool while the situations grow steadily stranger.
Fear
by Roald Dahl
2017
A suspense-focused selection of adult tales driven by dread, pressure, and the sense that something is about to go badly wrong. Even the quiet scenes feel loaded.
Innocence
by Roald Dahl
2017
These stories turn on youth, naivety, or misplaced trust meeting a harder world. The tone is gentler in places, but Dahl still finds room for irony and unease.
Trickery
by Roald Dahl
2017
A themed selection built around cons, schemes, and neat little acts of fraud. If you enjoy Dahl at his slyest, this volume leans hard into the art of the setup.
War
by Roald Dahl
2017
This themed volume gathers Dahl stories shaped by military life, flying, danger, and the absurdities of wartime. It shows the harder, firsthand edge behind some of his fiction.
Shapes
by Roald Dahl
2023
Another early board book, this one uses characters and art from Dahl's world to teach simple shapes. It is bright, tactile, and made for little hands.
Trick or Treat
by Roald Dahl
2023
A Halloween-themed board book that brings Dahl characters into a friendly first look at costumes, creatures, and spooky fun. It is playful rather than scary.
Words
by Roald Dahl
2023
A sturdy board book that introduces first words with Quentin Blake art and familiar characters from Dahl's stories. It is aimed at the very youngest readers.
Marvelously Revolting Recipes
by Roald Dahl
2024
This kid-friendly cookbook offers fifty recipes inspired by Dahl's stories, from silly gross-out ideas to famous treats. It is meant for young cooks who want to bring the books into the kitchen.
Where should I start?
If you want the classic first read: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory → Matilda → The BFG
If you like nasty grown-ups getting their comeuppance: The Twits → George's Marvellous Medicine → The Witches
If you want adventure with heart: James and the Giant Peach → Danny → Fantastic Mr. Fox
If you're curious about his adult fiction: Someone Like You → Kiss Kiss → Tales of the Unexpected
If you want the real-life backstory: Boy → Going Solo
Author bio
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, in 1916 to Norwegian parents, and he grew up between Welsh schooldays and long summer visits to Norway. Those early years never really left him. You can feel them later in the sweets, strict schools, odd grown-ups, and brave children that fill his books.
His childhood was not especially gentle. His sister and father both died when he was very young, and boarding school gave him a close look at bullying, unfair rules, and adults who seemed to enjoy power too much. He stored all of that away, then turned it into stories that let children fight back.
Before he was a writer, he worked for Shell and was sent to East Africa. Then the war changed everything. Dahl joined the Royal Air Force, survived a crash in the Libyan desert that left him with a fractured skull and temporary blindness, and later ended up in Washington, D.C., doing wartime work for the British Embassy.
That is where writing really started. The novelist C. S. Forester asked him to jot down his flying experiences, and Dahl's account was published soon after. Not long after that came The Gremlins, his first children's book, built from RAF folklore about tiny creatures blamed for mechanical trouble.
Then came the books that made him part of so many childhoods. James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, The Witches, and Matilda all share something important: children are underestimated, adults are often ridiculous or cruel, and imagination is a real kind of power.
He could be very funny.
He could also be gloriously mean in just the right dose. Even gentler books like Danny and Esio Trot have a sly sideways smile, while his adult collections, especially Someone Like You, Kiss Kiss, and Tales of the Unexpected, show how much he loved a neat trapdoor ending. The sentences are plain, but the effect is sharp.
His home life was full and complicated. He married the actress Patricia Neal in 1953, and they had five children. After their divorce, he married Felicity Crosland in 1983. Much of his later work was written in a small hut in the garden of his home, Gipsy House, in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
His books are still everywhere.
His legacy is not simple. Dahl made antisemitic remarks later in life, and his family and company have publicly acknowledged the harm they caused. That does not erase the grip his stories still have on readers, but it does mean any honest account of him has to hold both things at once.
Dahl died in Oxford on November 23, 1990, at seventy-four. He left behind children's classics, unnerving adult stories, lively memoirs, and a whole private dictionary of words that still feels like it was invented yesterday.
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