The Guardian has a lovely piece by Quentin Blake, talking about how he came to create Billy, the Minpins and the other characters in a new version of one of Dahl’s last books. The new version is called Billy and the Minpins, and it’s available from September 2017. (The older version with Patrick Benson’s illustrations isn’t going away though!)
This Wednesday, September 13th, will be Roald Dahl’s 101st birthday, so it’s time to celebrate! The official Dahl site has loads of ideas for activities:
If you’re in the UK, make sure to check out the LEGO® sculptures of Roald Dahl characters appearing at various locations around England, Ireland, and Wales!
Characters are springing from the pages of Roald Dahl stories and appearing at stunning locations around the UK!
From RoaldDahl.com: To celebrate Roald Dahl Day, LEGO® has teamed up with the Roald Dahl estate to install six LEGO® statues of Dahl’s characters around England, Ireland, and Wales.
Intrepid Billy, hero of Billy and the Minpins, will be at the Eden Project in Cornwall*
Charlie, the good-hearted hero of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be at Manchester Central Library
Maverick inventor George of George’s Marvellous Medicine will be at Nottingham Railway Station
James, the adventurous hero of James and the Giant Peach will be at Cardiff Castle*
Anarchic Matilda will be in the foyer of the Cambridge Theatre in London, home of Matilda the Musical
Brave Sophie, hero of The BFG, will be at the National Trust’s Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland*
*Entry tickets will be required to gain access to the statues at these locations
The OxfordWords blog has a fun quiz to determine Which Roald Dahl character are you?.
My result was – THE BFG! Well, I am kind of tall. 😂
What did you get?
As I blogged about previously, Storybook Cosmetics are indeed bringing out a Charlie-inspired eyeshadow palette book. The company has provided the press release below. I’ll be on the lookout for it when it goes on sale!
Storybook Cosmetics™ Announces Collaboration with Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Childhood classic to be turned into eyeshadow palette book
OMAHA, NEB. (January 26, 2017)- Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket stated, “In your wildest dreams you could not imagine that such things could happen to you! Just wait and see!” That is exactly how Storybook Cosmetics is feeling as they announce a collaboration with the Roald Dahl Literary Estate for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. The iconic children’s book served as inspiration for the latest Storybook Cosmetics eyeshadow palette book that will feature 12 Whipple-Scrumptious colors.
The made in the U.S.A. color palette will come in a life-size custom hardcover storybook and features a dozen cruelty-free highly, pigmented shades that range from mattes, metallics and pearl finishes. The limited edition palette would surely send Veruca Salt into a fit until she got one! But all good things come to those who wait…and in this case it won’t be until later this year when the product is perfected. Willy Wonka himself said it best, “Tremendous things are in store for you! Many wonderful surprises await you!”
“We are so excited to be teaming up with the Roald Dahl Literary Estate on this,” said Missy Maynard. “My sisters and I have been huge fans of the legendary Roald Dahl works since we were little kids. We guarantee that this palette will do the iconic story justice! It’s like Roald Dahl says in the book, “Something crazy is going to happen now, Charlie thought. But he wasn’t frightened. He wasn’t even nervous. He was just terrifically excited.” We really couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration! It really is a dream come true.”
Stephanie Griggs, the Roald Dahl Literary Estate’s Licensing and Design Manager added, “Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is not only one of the world’s most popular and iconic children’s books; it has also inspired two movies, and a hit stage musical- soon to open on Broadway. And now this exciting collaboration with the Maynard triplets! We love the fact that Storybook Cosmetics products are inspired by the magical stories Erin, Mandy and Missy enjoyed most as kids. The combination of stories and cruelty-free cosmetics demonstrates an inventiveness worthy of Mr Wonka himself, and we can’t wait to see the limited edition palette of colours inspired by the story.”
The Storybook Cosmetics Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Palette will be for sale later this year at storybookcosmetics.com. For the latest updates people can sign up on their website and follow the official Storybook Cosmetics Instagram account.
This is pretty hilarious… including parody songs by Michael Bolton!
Oh wow! I just learned that Steiff, the famous makers of teddy bears, created a limited edition teddy bear based on Willy Wonka. They’re pretty expensive though… (I found one on Amazon.com.)
Details:
Steiff WILLIE WONKA is the most amazing, the most fantastic, the most extraordinary chocolate maker the world has ever seen!
He is made from the finest beige mohair, fully jointed, felt paw pads and with shiny eyes and hand embroidered brown nose and mouth. One of the pads is embroidered with the famous name of the author ROALD DAHL.
He is beautifully dressed in a dark pink jacket, yellow and white waistcoat and matching dark pink and white bow tie. Finally he is wearing his favourite grey hat with contrasting band.
So smart and loved by all our collectors!
Inspired by Quentin Blake’s original illustrations, Steiff bring their style to the beloved ROALD DAHL classic CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY with this delicious eccentric candy-maker Steiff Willy Wonka.
Limited edition of just 1,916 pieces.
Penguin has just announced the publication of a beautiful if rather sinister set of four books bringing together Roald Dahl’s short stories. Each of the paperbacks bears a fittingly disquieting cover illustration created by artist Charming Baker.
Read more at Creative Boom and check out the books here: War, Trickery, Fear, and Innocence.
Did you know last year Roald Dahl was featured on the tail fin of a Norwegian Airlines plane? Pretty cool!
This is interesting! The website SHEmazing reports that Storybook Cosmetics are bringing out an official Roald Dahl inspired eyeshadow palette. I’ve reached out to the company for more details. I wonder what colours will be included beyond that amazing gold?
