An illustrated collection of fifteen parodies ranging from skewered nursery rhymes to epic slapstick sagas.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Here are 15 less-than-clever rhyming parodies of classic children's stories and poems, including The Tortoise and the Hare , The Emp e r o r's New Clothes , Dick Whittington's Cat , Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves , Hansel and Gretel , etc. Most of Dahl's attempts at playful lasciviousness seem juvenile: "As I was going to St. Ives / I met a man with seven wives / Said he, 'I think it's much more fun / Than getting stuck with only one.' " Several jokes fall flat on their British colloquialism: "Hey diddle diddle / We're all on the fiddle," while others die of old age: "knickers" rhymed with "vicar's." Blake, who also illustrated Dahl's Matilda , supplies messily frenzied line drawings that are far more amusing than the sophomoric verses they accompany.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Blake's jacket art for this book says it all: on a garbage can (or is it a stew pot?) from which waft images from the satirized stories within is a sign which reads "Warning--Unsuitable for Small Readers." Never known for subtlety, good taste, or benevolence, Dahl is his usual disrespectful, misanthropic self in Rhyme Stew . In jaunty, often funny verse, he pokes fun at a dozen or so traditional rhymes and folktales. In "Dick Whittington and His Cat," the cat convinces Dick to leave London: " 'Come home, my boy, without more fuss/ This lousy town's no place for us.' " In "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," the action unfolds in London's Ritz Hotel to a scene of debauchery that makes the Arabian Nights seem almost chaste. Pen-and-ink drawings have the same ease to them as the verses--as if they were simply dashed off. A djinn in underpants and a naked king being fitted for invisible clothes are both particularly funny. However, it is not the raunchy longer pieces that make this a book not for children, but the shorter verses like "A Hand in the Bird" involving a vicar's hands in a maiden's knickers and "Hot and Cold" which begins: "A woman who my mother knows/ Came in and took off all her clothes." Adolescents who enjoy pretty tasteless and aggressive humor will doubtless be amused by Dahl's cleverness. --Ann Stell, The Smithtown Library, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Llandaff, South Wales, and went to Repton School in England. His parents were Norwegian, so holidays were spent in Norway. As he explains in Boy, he turned down the idea of university in favor of a job that would take him to"a wonderful faraway place. In 1933 he joined the Shell Company, which sent him to Mombasa in East Africa. When World War II began in 1939 he became a fighter pilot and in 1942 was made assistant air attaché in Washington, where he started to write short stories. His first major success as a writer for children was in 1964. Thereafter his children's books brought him increasing popularity, and when he died children mourned the world over, particularly in Britain where he had lived for many years.The BFG is dedicated to the memory of Roald Dahls eldest daughter, Olivia, who died from measles when she was seven - the same age at which his sister had died (fron appendicitis) over forty years before. Quentin Blake, the first Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom, has illustrated most of Roald Dahl's children's books.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect Childrens book for ADULTS,
By A Customer
This review is from: Rhyme Stew (Hardcover)
As with many Dahl stories this book is not really for children, but adults will love it.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutly not suitable for children,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Rhyme Stew (Kindle Edition)
It's a black comedy story about kid but not for a kid. If you're adult, You'll like it.(nice picture contain)
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