Customer Reviews

Revolting Rhymes

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Some reviewers are "revolted" by the gruesomeness of this little book, whilst others complained it was too short. I have niether of the two compaliants. I loved it! and so did the seven year old little girl, for whom the book was given to as a christmas present. I think Dahl was specially creative in this little book twisting and turning classical children tales into salacious, hilariously funny rhythms that you can read over and over again and still manage a chuckle here and there. And thinking this is too "mature" for younger readers is underestimating the intelligence and imagination of children. Yes, there are some play on words that you have to explain to your little one, but you know what? they'll ask you anyway. As for the size of this book, It's just right. Dahl took the basic popular children stories that everyone knows and i think it's just the right dose and besides, you can take this book anywhere, like the sevenyear and read it to your friends, cousins, neighbors and anyone who she suspects of having a sense of humour. It teaches us about having a boundless imagination and exploring the what ifs of stories. It's another favourite.

My sixth grade math/science students loved these stories and I loved reading them to my students as well. These are fairy tales retold with a twist! The students laughed as hard as I did and after I read one they wanted to hear another. I want more after reading all of the tales! Never could I have expected the tales to be so funny! Reading these aloud to my students enticed them to rewrite the fairy tales themselves when it is almost impossible to get them to write or read! I want more rewritten fairy tales! Excellent!

I will never forget the day our substitute teacher in year 4 read Cinderella to us! I have loved this book and Roald Dahl ever since. His masterful creativity is evident in every line of each of these stories and each induces tears of laughter. A wonderful addition to any personal library, young or old.

Really revolting rhymes! Roald Dahl takes your normal nursery rhymes, mixes them up a bit, adds a touch of his magic, and voila -- you have a hilarious bunch of rhymes. For example, Goldilocks joins up with and helps the three little pigs, and Cinderella gets a bit gory because the prince gets mad ... and he has an axe!

This is another hilarious classic by Roald Dahl for ages 5 to 103. For those of you who like those stories, a word of caution -- these poems are funny and a bit of an insult to those stories. The book is packed with sidesplitting jokes and poems. It adds laugh-out-loud humor to dull nursery rhymes, making them a lot more fun for kids who have grown out of nursery rhymes. With this once-in-a-lifetime book you will enjoy nearly endless laughter with a friend or by yourself! With a Roald Dahl classic in your hands you can trust it will be a good book.

This is a very funny retelling of six popular fairy tales (including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Three Little Pigs), each of which seriously deviates from the tradition plotline in service to Dahl's wicked sense of humor. There have been many fairy tale parodies in recent years, but this book stands out both because of the irreverence and the fact that each tale is told in rhyme.

Only someone with Dahl's clout could publish a scene in which a little girl whips out a gun and kills her enemy, and only those who love Dahl will appreciate the dark humor that is his trademark.

I found that the six stories were fun and entertaining, and I think that they would be better read aloud to children than read silently.

Over the last fifty years, there has been a trend of removing anything objectionable from fairy tales, and I would remind critics that these stories are more in keeping with the rough and tumble spirit of the original tales by the Grimm brothers and others, than the Disneyfied versions that we find elsewhere.

Judged against other books by Dahl, I have to say that this is not his best children's work, since he is working off of familiar elements that are not entirely of his own creation. Also, the short lengths of the stories, and the imposition of the rhyme scheme might have prevented him from really exercising his imagination to the fullest extent.

But in my book, Dahl on his worst day is better than most other children's authors on their best day, and any child who likes his more traditional books will enjoy the giggles that these offbeat tales can provide.

I stumbled onto this little Dahl gem while my wife was researching the book's illustrator, the wonderful Quentin Blake. Having read every Dahl book from The Twits and Matilda to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny, Champion of the World, I was surprised to have not run across it earlier. And what a pleasant surprise! Dahl is able to combine his often-savage wit with a lovely rhyming ability to re-tell these classic fairy tales. Other authors have tried to turn fairy tales on their head - e.g., The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig - but few have been able to add the truly unique twists and clever language of Roald Dahl. His rhymes are often in the style of classic kids book writer Shel Silverstein with a similar penchant for bodily functions and nasty behavior, and his merciless portrayals are somewhat reminiscent of Edward Gorey, whose alphabet book is a grisly description of 26 innocent children meeting untimely ends. So, is it appropriate for children? I have read it to both my 4-year-old and 7-year-old and they think it's wonderful, even though they perhaps enjoy the light-heartedness of Winnie The Pooh more. Be cautious of what other reviewers tell you about the language in the book...a word like 'slut' in the hands of Roald Dahl is perhaps not what you think. Remember, he was essentially an old-world English fuddy-duddy, to whom the word 'slut' would bear the original meaning of 'dirty and unkept' - as in slovenly. Roald Dahl was not perverted or disgusting, merely revolting.

This is the funniest kids book ever written! Roald Dahl twists the standard fairy tales in a most creative fashion. This book is definately not PC so you gun paranoia types will hate it. In one tale, the prince whacks off the heads of Cinderella's ugly sisters so he won't have to marry them since the glass slipper fits! Have fun using this as a read aloud (but only if you have tenure.)

"Jack's mother said we're stony broke. Go out and find some wealthy bloke." Each line in this book makes me want to laugh. Boring classics are turned into brilliant tales, which children and adults alike will love. The hardest thing is finding a favourite. Cinderella has to be up there though - I nearly cry with laughter each time I read it.
These fairytales have a wicked twist, and it's hard to say if they are funnier for parent or child, but I'm yet to find anyone who doesn't love them.

If your kids like Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss and the Brothers Grim, they will absolutely devour these rhyming stories that twist traditional fairy tales into hilarious parody. My daughter used to enjoy reading them aloud to anyone who would listen. She thought it was a work of genius that everyone should be intimately familiar with. You'll love it too!

Roald Dahl once said the secret to writing a good kid's book is to conspire with the children against adults, and this book is a perfect example of that.

This is for the child (and adult) who feels the bears in the Goldilocks were victims of a breaking-and-entering little vandal, who really would like to see a more self-empowered red riding hood, and who thinks that third little pig was a smug git who'd probably taste good on rye with a bit of mustard.

The only flaw with the book is its brevity. You can read the whole book aloud in about a half-hour. One is really left wanting more. (Thurber wrote some good fables in a similar vein, but they're less for children and more dated.)