The Twits

by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Overview

Mr. and Mrs. Twit hate almost everything, including their trained monkeys, the Muggle -Wumps. But now the Muggle-Wumps want revenge. Roald Dahl is one of the most beloved storytellers of all time, and his books have been children’s favorites for generations. Puffin is proud to offer a strong new look for nine of our classic Roald Dahl titles. The distinctive cover treatment, with new art by Quentin Blake, will make these books easily recognizable. In addition, Quentin Blake’s funny, quirky illustrations now appear in all of the books. So turn the page and you’ll be sure to have a Dahl-ectable summer!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142410394
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/16/2007
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	29,736
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.73(h) x 0.31(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Date of Birth:

September 13, 1916

Date of Death:

November 23, 1990

Place of Birth:

Llandaff, Wales, England

Place of Death:

Oxford, England

Editorial Reviews

Mr. Dahl has written a few wonderfully funny and imaginative books. ''The Twits'' is not one of them. The movement of the plot is capricious. And the humor dwells on rather elementary physical jokes, only a few of which are funny. Basically this reads like a story reeled out at bedtime by a talented but distracted uncle who wants to pack the children off quickly. It needs pruning, paring, sharpening and some bolting down in order to go public and add luster to the already lustrous, and funny, name of Roald Dahl. -- New York Times

Karla Kuskin

Gr 2-4-Actor Simon Callow tackles one of Roald Dahl's most gruesome stories (Puffin, pap. 1998) with relish in this gleefully naughty audiobook. Mr. and Mrs. Twit are two of the most disgusting, nasty, and horrid characters in children's literature, from their repulsive looks (the story opens with a long, detailed description of Mr. Twit's unkempt beard) to the mean and horrible tricks they play on one another (Mrs. Twit enjoys hiding her glass eyeball in unexpected places and lacing the spaghetti with worms; Mr. Twit works for weeks to convince his wife that she has "The Shrinks"). Callow captures the dry humor of Dahl's narrative voice perfectly, and creates appropriately nasty voices for Mr. and Mrs. Twit as well. Unfortunately, the thick accents and loud tones of these voices often mean that the dialogue is difficult to understand. Still, Callow's able narration brings Dahl's ironic sensibilities to life, and a sense of satisfaction is inevitable when the terrible Twits come to an appropriately gruesome end.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbus

School Library Journal

THE TWITS is the ultimate story of tit for tat. With antics including a glass eye on the loose and a frog-bedecked pillow, Mr. and Mrs. Twit vie to outdo each other with nastiness. But it’s the Muggle-Wumps, with help from the Roly-Poly Bird, who have the last, topsy-turvy, say. From the opening description of Mr. Twit’s food-encrusted beard, the listener knows that Simon Callow delights in portraying this detestable being and his wife. The drool of the tongue and the slurps of the wormy spaghetti will bring chuckles of pleasure and disgust, as will Callow’s animated description of “the shrinks.” He personalizes the Muggle-Wumps with relish. His lilt and cadence for the Roly-Poly Bird evoke its origins. Whether young listeners are attracted or repulsed by the Twits, the presentation is marvelous. A.R. 2003 ALA Notable Recording © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 03 - AudioFile