Today is Roald Dahl Day, a celebration of the life of the beloved author (1916–1990), born in Llandaff, Wales. Best known for his wildly imaginative children’s stories, Dahl’s legacy sparkles in every twist of plot and playful turn of phrase.

Fans mark the day by wearing yellow (his favorite color), swapping books, telling silly jokes, or slipping the word gobblefunk into conversations. A holiday for the bold, the silly, and those who still believe in magic.

“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Dahl once said. A less-than-stellar student, he called school “days of horrors,” yet his passion for writing was lit early. He flew fighter planes in WWII, and after a near-fatal crash, began writing while recovering in Washington, D.C.

Dahl penned James and the Giant Peach (1961) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) from his garden shed—his “Inventing Room.” His stories captivated children and adults alike with a blend of mischief, magic, and meaning.

He wrote, “We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that. Reverse it.” Bold and often subversive, he delighted in language and invented words like whizzpopping and snozzcumber in The BFG (1982), a celebration of imagination and play.

“A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men,” he said. Dahl knew what children loved: surprise, silliness, justice, and joy.

A fierce advocate for literacy, he wrote to inspire children to read. “If you can teach them that at ages eight, nine, ten or eleven, they have a great start.”

With over 21 books for children and 50+ stories for adults, Roald Dahl sold more than 50 million paperbacks in the UK alone. “I never get any protests from children,” he said. “All you get is giggles of mirth and squirms of delight.”

His books remind us that a little nonsense, a bit of bravery, and a wild imagination just might lead to a happy ending.

Named to the Top 100 Writers of the 20th Century, Roald Dahl wrote with the kind of fire that still inspires. Meet the rest of these visionaries.