"The Landlady" and Other Short Stories Lesson Plan

Roald Dahl was born in September 1916 in Llandaff, which is near the capital of Wales. His father died when he was young, and he was raised primarily by his single mother. As a child, he attended boarding school and then joined the Public Schools Exploring Society. His first career was as a salesman for Shell Oil. Then, during World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force in Nairobi. This scenario became the setting and inspiration for some of his stories, like “An African Story.” He had to make a crash landing in the Libyan desert during the war and wrote Shot Down Over Libya afterwards. After the war, he had five children and began writing children’s stories. In total, Dahl had careers...