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Monday, March 05, 2012 at

Motherhood Mondays: Letter from Roald Dahl

Back in 1989, on a rainy afternoon, seven-year-old Amy wrote a letter to Roald Dahl. Using oil, coloured water and glitter, Amy sent the author a personal gift: one of her dreams, contained in a bottle.

Here's Roald Dahl's wonderful response:
P.S. Roald Dahl stamps.

(Photo by Palayo Lacazette; letter from Amy herself, who is on twitter; via LettersofNote)
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92 comments:

  1. Lauren C.T.11:41 AM

    I love this! Thank you for sharing. :)

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  2. Ooooh! That idea is from "The BFG", my absolute favorite book by him. I'm 24 and STILL read it at least once a year. How completely marvelous.

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  3. THIS! SLAYED. DEAD. I'm a ghost.

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  4. I love this.
    I wish, as adults, we still put our dreams in bottles :)

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  5. roald dahl is my FAVORITE! when i was 10 i named our family's new puppy quentin after dahl's illustrator, quentin blake.

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  6. What a lovely thing to share on a Monday morning, thank you.
    Hmmmm, methinks I have been inspired!

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  7. I don't think I'll ever stop loving Roald Dahl. And that girl (now a woman) Can I just be her best friend?

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  9. Hmmm, if only there were an even-tempered giant who could go around blowing dreams to children every night... waaaaaaiiit a minute! :P

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  10. i just love this!!!
    xx jes
    www.twosmuppies.com

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  12. moving and beautiful!

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  13. That is so sweet. It made my Monday exponentially better. Thank you for that little post of extraordinary niceness.

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  14. That's so sweet! I love Roald Dahl so much. I need to start reading his books to my babies. My favorite is the bfg.

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  15. Wow, that's cute! I want a dream jar!

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  16. And just when I thought Roald Dahl couldn't get any more magical.

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  17. This is great. I always heard that Dahl was a bit of a curmudgeon when it came to non-fictional children, but perhaps not!

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  19. This is amazing :) What a wonderful, wonderful man

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  20. Anonymous12:25 PM

    This brings back such lovely memories of reading "The BFG." So glad Dahl took the time to answer a little girl.

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  21. Wow! Could you imagine getting a response like that??? I would be on cloud nine!

    - Sarah
    http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com

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  22. So sweet. I love whimsy.

    xo
    Patty
    www.prettygrounded.com

    Boulder, Colorado

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  24. I love this so much. And am totally stealing this idea!

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  25. i've been reading his books to the kiddies i take care of! this story is magic xxx

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  26. So charming! Amy must still treasure this letter very much.

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  27. A marvellous man-who will forever be alive. How great to have received a letter from him!

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  28. How precious! I just love his books...especially the BFG, Matilda, and the Witches. I could just go on and on...

    I have to say that I'm pretty crazy about Shel Silverstein too! I can't get enough of those children's books.

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  29. Joanna, I'm so glad you shared this with your readers. I first read this letter in a mental_floss blog roundup of thank-you notes from famous folks (http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/116624) and reblogged it on my own site. :)

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  30. How sweet that he took the time to write her! It must have made her feel like she created a bit of magic!

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  31. Elizabeth1:19 PM

    Wonderful! Thank you for sharing, Magical.

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  32. This is such a heart warming story! I can imagine the excitement Amy must have experienced, when she received his response. Thanks for sharing - it's absolutely beautiful!

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  33. i love when Roald said he's blow dream thorugh some sleeping children. that's so beautiful

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  34. This is wonderful. He was a huge part of my childhood. His books made being little all the more magical.

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  35. This is just about the sweetest little sentiment I've learned of. What a thrill it must have been for her to receive correspondence back from R.D.

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  36. Seriously read this five times...the sweetest! :)

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  37. Oh, how wonderful! Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors as a child, and this letter is the sweetest. Thanks for sharing!

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  38. HOW beautiful and fantastic... WOW!!!

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  40. Oh my goodness. This made my eyes misty. So wonderful.

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  42. Roald Dahl and his work are completely amazing.

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  43. aaaw, how sweet !!

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  44. Thank's a lot for show my work. It´s a pleasure for me.
    Greetings from Spain.

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  45. This made a rather blue day, turn. I do believe The BFG will be living on my Kindle.....

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  46. What a fabulous reply. We love RD here, and have the new BFG stamps to add to our collection.

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  47. Oh gosh, that was just THE BEST. I love Roald Dahl so much and that just made my day. Thank you for sharing!!

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  48. Joanna,
    Did you have to purchase a download for that gorgeous photo? I absolutely love the sweet face on that little darling :)

    ~Miranda @ Just Drink a Coke.

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  49. Samantha L2:13 PM

    This is so sweet it makes me want to cry! Roald Dahl's stories were pretty much the benchmark of my childhood.

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  51. This is absolutely wonderful and everything I would hope a letter from Raold Dahl would be. We've just started reading his work with the 7 year old and it's a pretty magical time.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  52. wait so was this written before the BFG? If so, she gave him such a great plot...

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  53. THIS IS SO COOL!!!

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  54. Aw this is amazing! Why didn't I write to Roald Dahl! xxx

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  55. This is so enchanting. I always loved reading Roald Dahl's imaginative books as a child -- and still do! -- so I'm thrilled to know that he carried that magic into his life.

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  56. I love seeing the fan mail/interaction between a child and his or her favorite author! Have you ever heard of that Maurice Sendak quote? (Author of Where the Wild Things Are)

    "Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

    I love it!

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  58. Awwwwww....I love this. I always liked Roald Dahl, now I like him even more!!

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  59. Sooo cute. I wish Roald Dahl was my grandpa :)

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  60. This is such a fantastic story! How sweet.

    ♥ sécia
    www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com

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  61. Oh wow. How amazing. Something the now 30 year old Amy treasures so much, I'm sure :)

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  62. tammy7:14 PM

    Growing up, one of my best friends was his granddaughter. I met him once. He was a fantastic, amazing man with the great gift of story telling.

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  63. The moment after reading this started pondering what I would use to make dream bottles. Finally, I will be able to use those 24 bottles of Martha Stewart glitter!

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  64. What a wonderful find. I still remember, from when I was a little girl:

    1. Reading the entire book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud to my mom - bit by bit every morning, while she French-braided my hair for school.

    2. How terrified I was of any woman wearing gloves, after reading The Witches.

    Thank you for sharing!

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  66. A. I flippin love Roald Dahl and B. I love the BFG and C. this is the cutest thing ever! :)

    From Linz @ MyGrandpasCloset

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  67. a childs imagination really is amazing!

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  68. This is amazing. His response is amazing.

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  69. I've always loved Roald Dahl. This makes me respect him so much more!

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  70. Ohhh... my gosh, Joanna. This is just amazing. What a beautiful way to start my week in the blogosphere. :)

    I'll admit, I have a particular affection for Roald Dahl. We named our little boy after him! See Elliott Dahl here:

    http://slomygosh.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-baby-dahl.html

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  71. WOW that is the most wonderful letter! I can't believe it, one of the most profound authors of children's books was truly inspired by the innocence and dreams present in the beauty of childhood. Thank you for sharing this treasure.

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  72. Wow what a wonder he wasy. Where is his kind today?! I grew up on his books, his books will truly live on and on because they live in the heart of everyone who has ever read them.

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  73. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  74. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  75. That is simply magical. Love him more than ever. :)

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  76. Victoria4:28 AM

    When I was in grade three (eight years old) I wrote to RD about my favorite book The Twits. Well I also received a personal reply (same type face and letterhead as seen here). It was celebrated throughout the how school. What joy he brought to me and friends, teachers and family. Thank you for refreshing my memory. I will go to the library tomorrow borrow the Twits and reread it! Just for the fun of it

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  77. Beautiful words, beautiful LOLA!
    mart a.
    GREAT Pelayo!

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  78. Marina F. Puron5:03 AM

    I LOVE THE PHOTO!!! Thank you for sharing the excellent work of my friend Pelayo Lacazette. I wish, someday, we can put our dreams in a bottle!! Congrats Pela!

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  79. Wow! This is just so wonderful!

    ~ Clare x

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  80. WOW, that is amazing!!! i really love the idea of dreams in a bottle! also, i love his books and its sort of great to see that he sounds like a great person in real life too!!

    love K

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  81. How wonderful is that ?!!
    This started my morning with a smile, thank you.
    besos, C

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  82. That just gave my heart a wonderful little squeeze:)

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  83. I had great fun re-reading Roald Dahl last year with our son and 'The BFG' is a firm favourite of mine.

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  84. What a beautiful thought! I love being reminded of the good and innocent things in this world. Warmed my heart that he wrote her back with his little plan. I would love to do this with my future children one day :)

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  86. this is heartbreakingly magical.

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  87. Anonymous3:09 PM

    This is a very nice sample,tips and guidelines on how write a formal letter.Thanks for sharing it with us.I'm pretty sure a lot of people out there will find this blog of yours very helpful.

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  88. Oh my god!! This is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing that story... I adore Roald Dahl!

    Pounou from www.pounouheartsyou.com

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  89. This melted my heart!

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  90. that is so sweet and cute..Thank you for sharing that with us.

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  91. thanks for sharing, this is lovely <3

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  92. What joy he brought to me and friends, teachers and family. Thank you for refreshing my memory.


    Roald Dahl Collection

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