THE magic of children’s author Roald Dahl was brought back to life in the classroom.

Youngsters at Parsons Heath Primary School, Colchester, swapped their uniforms for colourful costumes inspired by the memorable characters in Mr Dahl’s books.

Favourite costume choices included Willy Wonka and Oompa Loompas, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Witches and Fantastic Mr Fox, from the books of the same names.

A Mr Dahl themed menu was served for lunch including Mr Twit’s Bird Pie and Willy Wonka’s crunch chocolate cake.

Staff got into the spirit too.

The event was to celebrate what would have been Mr Dahl’s 100th birthday. He died in 1990.

Head teacher Claire Newson said: “We had a celebratory assembly where we got to see the different costumes.

“Children took part in a range of themed activities.

“Some children did work around the BFG and dream jars.

“This term each class has taken on a Roald Dahl story and we are going work around one of the stories.”

The day was celebrated nationally.

Mr Dahl’s works have been translated into 59 languages and have sold more than 200 million books worldwide.

As well as children’s stories, he wrote poems and scripts.