Roald Dahl Day: The author's most enduring characters remembered

Roal Dahl Day is being celebrated around the world on Saturday - when the famous children's author would have turned 98.

As well as paying tribute to his beloved children's stories, the annual event is paying particular homage to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to mark 50 years since the book was released.

An Oompa Loompa skydive is taking place in Peterboroguh, with fundraisers dressing up and jumping out of planes to raise money for children's charities.

Roald Dahl Day organisers are hoping to raise £50,000 to fund a specialist children's nurse for a year.

The writer taught a generation how to fight back against the monstrous world of the grown-ups with marvellous medicine, magic fingers and a healthy dose of naughtiness.

His books are still among the most read by children and are enjoying a new wave of success with the hit Matilda musical adaptation and successive film adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Born in Wales, Dahl worked for Shell oil and joined the RAF in the Second World War before being paid for his first writing in 1942.

As well as his famous children's fiction, he wrote the film script for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the screenplay for James Bond film You Only Live Twice as well as hosting several television shows.

He died in 1990 aged 74 in Oxford after becoming ill with a blood disease. The Roald Dahl Museum in his home village of Great Missenden and the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery in Aylesbury have since been opened in his honour.