Q 01/05

In which country was Roald Dahl born?

A) Wales

B) Ireland

C) Scotland

D) England

Answer · why

A) Wales

Wales: his father, a successful shipbroker, had settled in Cardiff, so Dahl was born in the city's Llandaff district.

Q 02/05

Dahl's parents were immigrants from which country?

A) Sweden

B) Denmark

C) Germany

D) Norway

Answer · why

D) Norway

Norway: after his father died, his mother chose not to take the children home, because Harald had wanted them educated in British schools.

Q 03/05

Dahl was named after which famous polar explorer?

A) Nansen

B) Scott

C) Shackleton

D) Amundsen

Answer · why

D) Amundsen

Amundsen vanished in 1928 while flying over the Arctic to search for the crew of a crashed airship.

Q 04/05

Which children's author, his childhood idol, did Dahl meet when he was six?

A) Enid Blyton

B) Beatrix Potter

C) Kenneth Grahame

D) A. A. Milne

Answer · why

B) Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter used her book profits to buy Lake District farms, and she left almost all her property to the National Trust.

Q 05/05

In the 'Great Mouse Plot of 1924', eight-year-old Dahl and his friends put a dead mouse in a jar of what?

A) Gobstoppers

B) Sherbet

C) Toffees

D) Liquorice

Answer · why

A) Gobstoppers

Gobstoppers: the headmaster caned all five boys for the prank, and a blue plaque went up at Mrs Pratchett's old sweet shop.