The Twits (Paperback)

by Roald Dahl (Author) "neither of these things. Mr. Twit was a twit..." (more)
Key Phrases: sticky glue, monkey cage, Roly-Poly Bird, Bird Pie, The Big Dead Tree

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Dahl's typically outre outing, the repulsive, misanthropic Mr. and Mrs. Twit become the target of revenge by the Mugglewump monkeys--who have finally had enough. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
Grade 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
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141301074
• ISBN-13: 978-0141301075
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (135 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #389,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #76 in

  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( D ) > Dahl, Roald

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Disgusting, Funny, and Exciting Book, December 14, 1999

By	Jasmine Quiroz (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

Hi, I'm a ten year old girl who has read the book The Twits, by Roald Dahl. It's disgusting in a way, exciting, and funny. The BFG was as good as The Twits, but it wasn't disgusting. The Twits are people that have three monkeys. They hate children. They make bird pie. Mrs. Twit has a glass eye. Mr. Twit has food in his beard which was very long. I would recommend this book to people that like funny, exciting, and disgusting books.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read , September 18, 2006

By	Norliza Ismail "The Librarian" (Seria, Kuala Belait Brunei Darussalam) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just the title, THE TWITS, attracted me to this particular book, and with an illustration in the front cover, who wouldn't be curious! It was another coincidence when I picked up to read this book when it was Roald Dahl's Day!

THE TWITS is the story of a couple of, well, twits! Mr Twit is has a nasty, unhygenic, ugly beard and Mrs Twit could be recognized by her glass eye, who lived in a windowless house. They have four pet monkeys, and a huge dead tree where they catch the birds for their weekly bird pie. to past time, they love to play tricks on each other.

When enough is enough, the four monkeys strategize a plan to turn the tables on the Twits with an interesting plan.

I must admit, the best part of this book, was the part where it says, no matter how you look like physically, if you're a good person, it would shine through and that would makes you a beautiful person.

THE TWITS is a really good read and people in every ages should try pick up this book and take you time to read it. It is worth your time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grossly funny, February 17, 2005

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In one of those strange coincidences of life, I happened to be reading recently about the upcoming movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and noticed that it was based on a story by Roald Dahl. This was of course after I read everything the article said about Johnny Depp, but I digress.

Shortly after that, I picked up a copy of the movie "James and the Giant Peach" - also from a book by the same author.

The final piece fell into place when I attended a book sale, and came across a table of books in the children's section, and lo and behold, there was a selection of books by Roald Dahl, all in readable print with the cute little "Puffin" logo on them.

Needless to say, the cashier thinks I have a lot of kids who like to read, as I didn't exactly let on that I was buying this huge pile of children's books for myself.

This book is a lightning-quick read, even for a child, and it's full of gross hygiene deficiencies, practical jokes and mischievous monkeys. Mr. Twit has the nastiest, ugliest beard known to mankind, the only thing nastier and uglier being Mrs. Twit with her glass eye. They take pleasure in playing horrible practical jokes on each other, being unpleasant to their four pet monkeys, and catching birds to make bird pie.

Of course, nasty people cannot be expected to come to a good end, and the monkeys craftily strategize to turn the tables on the horrible couple.

The underlying moral here is that no matter what you look like physically, if you have good thoughts, they will shine right through and make you a beautiful person, and of course the opposite also unfortunately applies.

Be nice to someone today and let the sunlight stream from your face.

Amanda Richards, February 17, 2005