Roald Dahl books no longer a favourite amongst schoolchildren A survey of 300,000 British schoolchildren aged between five and 16 years old has found that Roald Dahl books are no longer the most popular in comparison to thriller and romance novels involving vampires and wizards. Renaissance Learning, an American education company, has found that while Roald Dahl remains the author children have read the most, none of his books have made the top 10 favourite list in the What Kids Are Reading survey. Dahl's dark humour and eccentric plot-lines have seen books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches and Matilda capture the imaginations of millions of children and adults. The author had a prolific three decades of writing, producing dozens of children's books, poetry and short stories for adults; as well as his well-loved autobiographies, Boy and Going Solo, which reflected on his life at school and as an RAF fighter pilot. The most popular book in the survey is Rachel Caine's Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires, the first in a series of 15 fantasy novels aimed at young adults, several of which have made the New York Times bestseller list. Stephenie Meyer's riotously successful vampire series, Twilight, also had its debut book make the list at number three. Two JK Rowling novels, Harry Potter and the the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were listed alongside Anthony Horowitz's Crocodile Tears, the penultimate title in the nine-novel Alex Rider series. Dahl was joined by Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson in the childrens's most-read list, suggesting a distance between what children are being encouraged to read by adults, and what they prefer when choosing books themselves. Dahl was voted teachers' favourite author in 2012. Dick Foch, head of Renaissance Learning, quoted in The Independent, says, "It's clear that although books such as Roald Dahl classics may still be very prevalent in schools, children's tastes have very much moved on and it's TV, film, and vampires that are currently in vogue." Half of the top 10 books have had movie adaptions: Meyer's novels have been transformed into five blockbuster movies, four of which are in the top 55 grossing films of all time. Dahl novels have also inspired adaptions: comedian Tim Minchin created Matilda the Musical from the novel about an intelligent, but unappreciated little girl. The musical broke records when it picked up seven Laurence Olivier awards in 2012. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has inspired two fim versions, the most recent starring Johnny Depp and directed by BFI fellow Tim Burton in 2005.