What was Roald Dahl’s first published children’s book?

Roald Dahl’s first published children’s book was The Gremlins, released in 1943.

The story introduced mischievous creatures called gremlins, imaginary beings that Royal Air Force personnel blamed for mechanical failures during the Second World War. Dahl had served as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, so the aviation setting drew on his wartime experience.

The book was published by Random House and developed partly through Dahl’s connection with Walt Disney, who considered adapting the idea for a film. The planned film did not materialize, but the book became an early milestone in Dahl’s writing career.

Readers sometimes name James and the Giant Peach because it was Dahl’s first major children’s novel and the first of his books to become widely famous. It appeared later, in 1961.