Roald Dahl’s Books Are Being Rewritten! – Nafisa Ali, GGS

Roald Dahl was a British popular author of children’s literature and short stories whose books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. The writer, Roald Dahl published more than 20 children’s books, some of his most popular include The Twits, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – many of these which have been turned into films. By creating these hits, Dahl has often been called “one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century”.

Some of these books are being changed in order to get rid of ‘offensive’ references of the characters’ appearances such as ‘fat’, ‘ugly’ and ‘fearful’. This decision to make these changed has been agreed upon by the Roald Dahl estate and book publisher Puffin in order for the books to “continue being enjoyed by all today”.

However, many people disagree with the edits to children’s classics, including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has opposed the rewriting of these books and claimed that publishers should not “gobblefunk around with language” as well as claiming that the words should be kept in their original way, condemning the “airbrushing” of Roald Dahl.

Another critic who disapproves of these changes is Salman Rushdie, who tweeted that “Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed”. Reinforcing the distaste that the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books has left for the public.