The Twits by Roald Dahl
The Twits is another book I remember fondly from my childhood and like Fungus the Bogeyman it is both disgusting and frightening, definitely major draws for young boys in particular. Mr and Mrs Twit are an incredibly unlikeable couple, in fact they don’t even like each other. They catch and eat small birds and mistreat their pet monkey and his family. They are smelly and rude and thoroughly horrible and they hate children.
The book was written by British novelist Roald Dahl, the author behind works like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. The Twits is especially well known and loved in Britain though some parents may find it too revolting for their young ones and it is certainly darker and more subversive than most of his other works. Dahl also has an open revulsion for beards, he genuinely didn’t like them and so his description of Mr Twit’s beard is fantastically disgusting.
In the book the Twits capture birds by pasting glue onto a tree and they bake them in pies. Their pet monkey, Muggle-Wump, and his family are humiliated for the Twits amusement and there are detailed descriptions of both the principle characters in all their glorious awfulness. Mr Twit never washes and has rotten scraps of food in his beard which he occasionally picks out and eats, he drinks beer for breakfast and threatens to bake children who venture into his garden in a pie. He likes to play nasty tricks on his wife and he hides a frog in her bed and tries to convince her she is shrinking. Mrs Twit is no better and has been turned incredibly ugly because she has had so many ugly thoughts throughout her life. She plays tricks on Mr Twit too, putting worms in his spaghetti and their pranks escalate as the book progresses. Eventually the birds and monkeys team up with the help of the Roly-Poly bird and they exact a terrible revenge on the Twits.
The Twits was first published in 1980 and has always been a favourite among children in the UK. It is wonderfully inventive and beautifully written; Dahl had a real talent for words. His text is accompanied by illustrations from Quentin Blake, a terrific cartoonist who illustrated many of Dahl’s works. He does a great job in bringing the world of the Twits to life.
This is a satisfyingly dark children’s tale and it is packed with humour. This is best suited to young children in the pre-teen category, who will recognise the mean spirit of the Twits in the grumpy neighbour who shouts at them for playing and won’t return their football. This bizarre tale is sure to capture their imagination and raise a few chuckles. It is a short tale compared to many of Dahl’s other works and older kids are liable to find it a bit childish. There is no denying this is Dahl’s most mean spirited work so it won’t appeal to everyone but for kids of a certain age the grimy humour is bound to appeal.
