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Revolting Rhymes

roald dahl quentin blake

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Roald Dahl's irreverent and hilarious collection, Revolting Rhymes.

This book is filled with revolting rhymes.
(Be warned: It's no ordinary Once upon a time).

There's poor Cindy whose heart was torn to shreds, because her Prince, he chops off heads!

Snow White's dwarfs although awfully nice, are guilty of one shocking vice . . .

And what becomes of Goldilocks, that nasty thieving little louse, when she goes sneaking around the three bear's house . . .

Listen to REVOLTING RHYMES and other Roald Dahl audiobooks read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy soundeffects from Pinewood Studios!

Look out for new Roald Dahl apps in the App store and Google Play- including the disgusting TWIT OR MISS! inspired by the revolting Twits.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1982
Literary awards
vlag en wimpel penseeljury, 

This edition

Format
32 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 2003 by Puffin
ISBN
9780142302262
ASIN
0142302260
Language
English

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About the author

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roald dahl

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Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors.

Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel.

His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach.

He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
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99 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Zerviscos
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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2016 Reading Challenge #1: A book based on a fairy tale.

¡Qué librito tan genial! Me ha encantado de principio a fin, toda esa ironía y humor negro que acompaña a cada uno de los cuentos, pasando por las maravillosas ilustraciones de Quentin Blake.
Si bien no todas las rimas son afortunadas, la esencia y el cometido de estos siniestros cuentitos no se pierde del todo con la traducción: divierte tanto a grandes como a chicos.

Me gustó mucho la despiadada Caperucita tan alejada de la versión original y el revés de Juan y las habichuelas mágicas. He leído algunos en voz alta para mi hermanito y lo disfrutamos un montón, ojalá fuera más largo. Espero tener la oportunidad de leerlo en inglés y conocer más de la obra de este autor.
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LaybikuQBI
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This book was actually pretty engaging. When reading all the different versions of classic fairy tales they are extremely predictable especially as you get older but this book was just enough of older content mixed with the classic fairytales that everyone enjoys. I recommend this book to anyone that wants a quick, short (Connor) poem book to read.
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JacksonRS
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I enjoyed it so much !

I love how he's retelling our childhood tales with a funny and a little savage plot twist
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Kira_Shinigami
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I can't remember the last time I read rhymes.. Decades, perhaps? I absolutely loved this collection and had a blast reading all of them out loud (to my self ^_^") and with impressions too!

This is interestingly enough the end of classic stories as we know them. I think I like Dahl's version, though.
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Apomaro-Mellow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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This is, perhaps, one of my favourite volumes, ever.

With his trademark quirky humour, Dahl brings to readers his versions of the more traditional incarnations of several "fairy tales". These are not the versions made popular by a corporate monolith logo'ed with an 'aw chucks, ain't I cute' rodent. These are quippy, rhythmic and occasionally startling renditions that recall to mind the fact that "fairy tales" were originally intended as harsh preventative morality tales in a time when children and adults were generally illiterate, mortality rates were high among children and among the over 40 set, and life was never easy by modern standards.

This collection includes Dahl's rhymes for Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs. While they are not as lurid or as gruesome as the true originals (in some versions of the centuries old Snow White, her ... let's say her virtue and purity were physically compromised by all seven dwarves), there is a fair bit of violence in these rhymes. In at least one tale, someone gets their head chopped off, but the illustrations show no blood. Does this sound awful to you? Perhaps, but when one considers the myriad of video games available at a G or E or even PG level that contain graphic violence... In any case, consider yourself warned - be aware of your audience.

I have used this book many times with high school theatre classes to have them do comparisons of different versions of fairy tales (i.e.: the film cartoon, these poems, some other movies and parts of other plays, like Sondheim's "Into the Woods"). What tends to startle the students is not so much the actual content of these rhymes as the over-turning of their cherished notions that The Mouse House version is The One True Original version of every fairy tale ever told.

If you or your kid - or a kid you know - have a sense of humour that is a trifle sardonic or irreverent, have a love of language and an appreciation for the use of true word craft - metaphor, analogy, vivid description - and are looking for an alternative to either 'regular' fairy tales or poetry, this could be the collection for you.

PS: It's also available as a recording, all poems read by Scottish actor Alan Cumming. Cumming's inflection, emphasis, tone and pitch are spot on, but he sometimes speaks rather quickly and some of my students had difficulty following him (because of his "accent" - they can't imagine how they might have an accent if they went to Scotland!) unless they were reading along.
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Kaustubh15
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Caperucita Roja:



Una reinterpretación de cuentos infantiles clásicos estupenda. Probablemente mi historia favorita de Cenicienta (y yo soy cero fan de ella).

Un libro genial para iniciarme con Dahl.
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nexnoodlesoup
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Dahl single handedly turns nursery rhymes sideways, inside out and upside down.

Heretofore calm, serene children's playful stories become savage and gruesomely grisly as Cinderella's wicked step sisters have their heads chopped off my the prince.

The seven dwarfs have a gambling addiction; Jack's nasty mum climbs the beanstalk and much to his happiness, she is eaten by the giant; Little Red Riding Hood packs a pistol; Goldilocks may have fair yellow hair, but, really, she is a wanton thief who breaks and enters, thus getting her just reward in the end.

This book is revoltingly funny.
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