To start of my reading challenge, let's begin with something delightful and fun. Story was lovely, a collection of poems (verses) involving dirty beasts, naughty and bad beasts for me. I had fun reading them, i love the story of the porcupine and the toad and the snail. Roald Dahl never fails to amaze the kid in me.

This is a very entertaining collection of poems by Roald Dahl. The verse includes some rather eye-opening concepts that are probably more appropriate for an older child who can appreciate the wit.

Irreverant and often mischievous, the poems are a startling, but refreshing change from the typical children's poetry book fare.

A few of them were familiar to us, likely because we recently read Vile Verses, and some of the poems were included in that book, too.

I thought it was interesting that this edition was illustrated by someone other than Quentin Blake; we associate all of Mr. Dahl's works with Mr. Blake's pictures, so it was quite a change. Still, Rosemary Fawcett does a good job of adding a humorous tone to the illustrations.

We took our time reading the poems. The flow and rhyme scheme make them so much fun to read aloud. We really enjoyed reading this book together.

The poems tell hilarious and quite dark stories based on different animals. The illustrations are beautiful and very engaging for children. The use of creative language also provides a lot of inspiration for creative writing activities. As the stories can be quite dark I would recommend reading it beforehand to decide if it is appropriate for the children in an individual class, although generally speaking, I believe it would be appropriate for a year 3 class.

I was would use this book as a base for creative writing exercises, for example, having children create their own poems. Starting by creating their own character for the stories lead. Children can use the language within the book if needed but should be encouraged to come up with their own language where possible.

Много ми харесва тази книга защото е много интересна и Весела

What?!? There's a Dahl book that I'd not previously read!!

This second collection of poem's doesn't quite match the brilliance of Revolting Rhythms, though his humorously dark take on various animals is still a fun quirky read.

My favourite of these tales was the opening poem concerning an intelligent pig who knows what his owner is planning on doing to him.

Seeing the Rol-Poly Bird featuring was also a nice touch.

Saving it for my children!

A fun children's classic that will surely inspire a new generation of readers.

Most people tell me I'm morbid but that's only because I've grown up reading the delightfully dark books by Roald Dahl. The collection of poems that is Dirty Beast is not just for kids. If you haven't read it do so now.

"O leão
O que O leão mais adora
é comer a qualquer hora.
E se alguém me perguntar
O que ele quer para jantar
Não dirá - uma costela
Nem um bife de panela
Nem linguiça defumada
Nem galinha assada.
Patê de presunto, então?
A resposta aqui não!
Meu leãozinho querido,
Você prefere um cozido?
Um coelho com pimenta
Ou vitela suculenta?
O leão abre um sorriso
E dá logo se eu aviso:
" A carne que vou comer
Não é pato nem patê, é VOCÊ. ""


Para qualquer criança ter belos pesadelos à noite!

All and all it wasn't too bad, definitely not as brilliant as his novels. I just tolerated reading some parts because of Quentin Blake's fantastic illustrations. And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge crazy Roald Dahl fan! "The Tummy Beast" and "The Toad and the Snail" were genuinely funny for example. HOWEVER, I want to hold my judgment about that last part of "The Cow" and ask you, do you read the same thing I do? Isn't it super odd and racist all of a sudden? (Welp, I guess I couldn't hold it in.)

"It really is a flying cow!"
They laughed and clapped and cheered and waved,
And all of them were well-behaved
Except for one quite horrid man
Who'd travelled from Afghanistan.
This fellow, standing in the crowd,
Raised his voice and yelled aloud,
"That silly cow! Hey, listen Daisy!"
Unfortunately Daisy heard
Quite clearly every single word.
"By gosh," she cried, "what awful cheek!
Who is this silly foreign freak?"
she dived, and using all her powers
She got to sixty miles an hour.
"Bombs gone!" she cried. "Take that!" she said,
And dropped a cowpat on his head.

Rotbeesten van Roald Dahl is een in kleuren geïllustreerd groot, dun boekje dat geschreven is in rijmvorm. Ik heb de Engelse versie van het boek niet gelezen, maar mijn hoed af voor de dame die de Nederlandse vertaling gedaan heeft (Huberte Vriesendorp), want die is gewoon fantastisch.

Mocht je heel toevallig, zoals mij, Roald Dahl zijn boeken aan het lezen zijn en je hebt gedaan met de traditionele boeken zoals Sjakie en de Chocoladefabriek, De GVR, Mathilde, etc., dan zou ik zeker dit boekje ook een kans geven. De Reuzenkrododil vond ik ook bijzonder leuk.

Happy Reading!

Roald Dahlin "Elukat" (Art House, 2017) sisältää yhdeksän runoa, jotka kertovat enemmän tai vähemmän karmaisevia tarinoita eläinten parista. Lukija törmää muun muassa mummoja pahoinpitelevään muurahaiskarhuun ja hirviömäiseen Kroko-vokkiin, sekä oppii mitä tapahtuu kun istuu vahingossa piikkisian päälle.

Oma suosikkini taisi silti olla kokoelman avaava "Sika", jossa älykäs kärsäkäs keksii mitä varten hän on elossa - lihatiskiä, tietysti. Neuvokas possu keksii kuitenkin keinot:

Oli syytä ounastella:
minut aikoi lounastella.
Niinpä kiinni kurkkuun lensin
- ehdittävä oli ensin! (s. 12)

Tuomas Nevanlinnalla lienee ollut melkoinen urakka kääntää nämä suomeksi, vaan ihan hyvin hän hommasta suoriutuu!