''The Roald Dahl Treasury'' is an anthology of works of the children's author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1997 by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

. Included amongst excerpts from all of Dahl's children's books and some previously unpublished material, are unexpurgated colour reprints of ''

The Enormous Crocodile ''The Enormous Crocodile'' is the title character in a British 1978 children's story, written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The story was adapted into a '90s TV special. Synopsis The story begins in Africa in a big, deep, mudd ...

'', ''

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me ''The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me'' is a 1985 children's book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The plot follows a young boy named Billy who meets a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey, who work as window cleaners. Although ...

'', ''

Esio Trot ''Esio Trot'' is a children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. Published on 3 September 1990, it was the last of Dahl's books to be published in his lifetime; he died just two months later. Unlike o ...

'' and ''

The Minpins ''The Minpins'' is a novel by Roald Dahl with illustrations by Patrick Benson. It was published in 1991, shortly after Dahl's death in November 1990, and is the author's final work of literature. The book was republished in 2017 under the title ...

''. The book includes a large volume of illustrations by

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

, with some specially commissioned for the project and some appearing for the first time in colour. A selection of guest illustrators including

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

and

Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture b ...

add visual variety to the extracts. The book also includes an excerpt from an interview given by Dahl and many letters exchanged between Dahl and family members, including

Ophelia Dahl Ophelia Magdalena Dahl (born 12 May 1964) is a British-American social justice and health care advocate. Dahl co-founded Partners In Health (PIH), a Boston, Massachusetts-based non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing a "prefere ...

Reception

''The Roald Dahl Treasury'' received generally positive reviews. Robert McCrum of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' deemed it "a sumptuously illustrated anthology" and "a wonderful introduction" to Dahl's work for children. Tony Bradman of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' critiqued some of the passages included as not well-representing their books, but overall labelled ''Treasury'' as "a fascinating overview of Dahl's ouevre for children."

References

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

1997 children's books Fiction anthologies {{anthology-book-stub