Reading Roald Dahl’s deliciously dark humour as a kid gave Squirrel Boy author Dave Lowe the determination to write his own funny books - and the reassurance that even a master storyteller doesn’t find it easy
When I was eight or nine, my hobbies were playing football, reading and picking my nose (not all at the same time). I think I already knew that I’d never be a professional footballer, and that the opportunities for professional nose-pickers were, at best, limited. But it seemed that writing funny books for a living might just be possible, and my inspiration, above all others, was Roald Dahl.
My mum and dad used to take me to Dudley Library once a month, and I’d borrow as many books as I could carry. The football stories of Michael Hardcastle were particular favourites, as were the Five Find-Outers mysteries of Enid Blyton. But Roald Dahl did something other writers didn’t do, something extra-special: he made me laugh. And not just laugh but snigger and snort and guffaw. It was around this time that I started trying to write my own funny stories and silly poems.
“I do,” Matilda replies. “Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh.”
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