From School Library Journal
Grade 4 Up–This dictionary-of-sorts is entertaining, insightful, and of particular interest to Dahl's fans. Front endpapers include a family tree, which is referred to numerous times in the text. While the information is alphabetically arranged, it's necessary to read the entire book to get the full story on the writer. For example, the entry Smile, please! reveals that photography was one of Dahl's hobbies. Recipes are interspersed, including those for creamy Kit Kat pudding and hot-house eggs. Q is represented by 26 questions with answers in alphabetical order. There's a section on Quentin Blake, and one about the Roald Dahl Foundation and Museum. The writing is clear, wicked, and fun. An occasional black-and-white photograph complements Blake's illustrations. Also included are Random Roald Fact boxes (he adored spiders) and Did You Know? frames (the longest ear hair recorded measures four inches). Swirly bordered warnings can also be helpful. Most discourage readers from attempting something Dahl did, like setting off a bag of fireworks or writing in the lawn with grass killer. There's much, much more. This is a standout tribute to a beloved children's author.
–Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 5---8. This book is an odd hybrid, and obviously a way to keep marketing Dahl after his death. Still, for the author's many fans it does have interesting, amusing, and, in some cases, surprising nuggets of information. The alphabetical arrangement both helps and hurts the discovery. For instance, after a fake-out "
A is for . . . aardvark" ("Every A-Z must begin with an aardvark"), kids learn that at age eight, Dahl's adenoids were "sliced out" without anesthetic and that in 1938 Dahl journeyed to Africa to look for adventure. But instead of looking under a topic called, say, "Writing," kids will have to look under "Nitpicking" to learn that Dahl enjoyed research and was a poor speller. A family tree is helpful, but "Roald's Random Facts," which dot the pages, hardly seem necessary as "random facts" describes the whole book. Kids will be enticed by Blake's illustrations, many of them familiar, and also by the black-and-white photos, despite some rather pale reproductions. Dahl's books are often helpfully referenced in the individual notes.
Ilene CooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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