An intimate insight into the author Roald Dahl’s delight in the countryside and wildlife surrounding his home in Great Missenden is set to be republished for the first time in 20 years.

My Year was one of the author’s last books, written shortly before his death in 1990. It has been out of print since 1998.

“It’s a charming, lyrical account of Roald Dahl’s love of the outdoors and the Chilterns countryside, taking us into the reveries of the world’s number one storyteller,” says Steve Gardam, director of The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, which has collaborated with Penguin Random House and the Roald Dahl Story Company to re-publish My Year.

“Roald lived in Great Missenden, in the heart of the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside for 36 years and had an enthusiast’s eye for the nature near his home.

Many of his best-known children’s stories, including ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ and ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ were inspired by his walks and the wildlife he saw in the local woods and fields.”

Dahl wrote a diary of notes about the flora and fauna around his home, about the colour of song birds and the habits of butterflies and frogs.

These notes, along with childhood memories, were eventually transformed into this month-by-month account of the passing year. 

This new hardback edition, complete with Quentin Blake’s beautiful original illustrations, is published by Penguin Random House.

It will be available from early November exclusively from the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.