Many people discover Roald Dahl through his stories and poems. His books have been translated into several languages. He has also inspired TV and radio shows and movies. With his help, kids all over the world can imagine strange candies, friendly giants, and frightening villains(反派主角). Indeed, Roald Dahl led a life full of adventures (冒险). Yet, we can have a better understanding of him from other things, too.

More than Just Words: The Roald Dahl Foundation

Roald Dahl became interested in helping people who had serious injuries and diseases. As a writer, Roald cared about helping children read more. To carry out these goals, his family set up the Roald Dahl Foundation. The foundation helps people, hospitals, and charities by giving money for medical and educational needs. It continues the spirit of giving that Roald expressed throughout his life.

Stories for All Ages: The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre

Roald Dahl’s wife, Felicity Dahl, wanted to set up a central place to protect all of Roald’s writings. She helped create the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Buckinghamshire, England. It holds a collection of Roald’s writings and recordings for the public to visit. His personal letters and postcards can be found there, as well as photographs and many of his awards. As you can see, one can get a pretty complete picture of Roald Dahl’s life by visiting this library. The museum also encourages people to write creatively.

Now, people of all ages are learning about Ronald Dahl through his works. Through his stories, the foundation, and the museum, Roald Dahl will continue to have a great effect on readers around the world for years to come.

Want a book? Head to a Rocket Ship in Boulder, Colorado, United States, a cottage (小屋) near Ghen, Belgium, or a tree in Coeurd’ Alene, Idaho, United States. These are just three of the more than 80,000 Little Free Libraries in more than 90 countries. Unlike traditional libraries, these small structures aren't buildings where people check out books from a librarian.

“A Little Free Library is a box full of books from which, when you find one, you can take a book home with you,” explains Margret Aldrich, Little Free Library spokes-woman. “Or if you have a book to share, you can leave it for someone else to read.”

Little Free Libraries are everywhere: outside homes or beside coffee shops.

The first was set on a post in front of Todd Bol’s home in Hudson, Wisconsin, United States, 10 years ago. The little schoolhouse Bol built held free books anyone could enjoy.

It became a local hit.

A year after setting up his library, Bol and Rick Brooks, a friend and business partner, launched Little Free Library as a nonprofit organization in 2012. Their goal was to make books more widely available while building connections within communities.

They inspired a book-sharing revolution.

Little Free Libraries began to spread all over the place-from Salvador, Brazil, to Grand Marais, Minnesota, United States.

Today, those who want to build one can get free instructions from the Little Free Library website.

“There weren't many public places like libraries where I live” says 10-year-old Umayr Ansari, who put a Little Free Library outside his home in Doha, Qatar. “I had a lot of extra books, and I wanted to share them so people who didn't have their own books could have a chance to read.”

“I liked to build the libraries and get the feeling of, ‘Wow I helped make that,’” says 11-year-old Ava Jelliek, “That gave me confidence.”

For all those who agree with Neil Gaiman’s motto in American Gods that “a town isn’t a town without a bookstore,” what might be the perfect holiday choice has just been listed on Airbnb: the chance to become a bookseller for a week or two.

For the total cost of ￡150 a week, guests at The Open Book in Wigtown, Scotland’s national book town, will be expected to sell books for 40 hours a week while living in the flat above the shop. Given training in bookselling from Wigtown’s community of booksellers, they will also have the chance to put their “own stamp” on the store while they’re there. “The Open Book’s aim is to celebrate bookshops, encourage education in running independent bookshops and welcome people around the world to Scotland’s national book town,” says the Airbnb listing.

The Open Book is leased (出租) by the Wigtown Book Festival from a local family. Organisers have been letting paying volunteers run the shop for a week or two at a time, and opened the experience up to the world at large.

“I wouldn’t call it a working holiday,” said Adrian Turpin, director of the Wigtown Book Festival. “It’s not about cheap labour (体力劳动) — it’s about offering people an experience.” The money is “just necessary to cover our costs,” said Turpin,admitting that “it can be a hard life, selling books in a small town, so it’s not a holiday for everybody.”

“I think the shop would have closed,without this,” he said. “So part of the idea was to get new people in — people who would hopefully end up having a good time and a long-standing relationship with the town.”

The idea comes at a difficult moment for independent booksellers. In 2005, there were 1,535 independent bookshops in the UK, with the number dropping to 939 by 2014.

So far, The Open Book has been leased around 10 times, with guests including those from The Bookshop Band, a librarian from Portland, a Dutch government employee, and an 80-year-old couple.