I don't think I would've liked a book of Roald Dahl's children poems, but I enjoyed this one a lot. The poems are fun and well-written and they're a lot darker than I ever thought (but then again, this IS Roald Dahl).

I read Revolting Rhymes. So, I'm excited to read this next!'

I think I like Revolting Rhymes better. Just okay. Top 3 stories: Lion, Ant Eater, and Crocodile.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Xbw...

Dirty Beasts features poems about various animals and why these animals are dirty or foul. The pig was so smart, that when he began to wonder what his fate was, he realized he was to be eaten. The next day when the farmer arrived, the pig ate him. The cow seemed somewhat innocent, she had just grown a pair of wings. But when a crowd had gathered, she heard a man from Afghanistan speak poorly of her, so she dropped a cow pie on his head. On the other hand, the porcupine was minding it’s own business when a girl sat upon it, filling her rear end with needles. These animals, whether intentional or not, seem to be up to no good! I would use this in the classroom by asking the students to make up a poem about an animal that ends badly like these poems.

While these poems were quirky and funny, I was really saddened by the poem about the cow. Dahl's representation of the man from Afghanistan was insensitive and a bit racist. While I can understand this was written in 1982, my expectations remain the same for all humans.

Dirty Beasts is a collection of nine poems about terrible animals who eat children or otherwise cause harm. This was a pretty average collection, the best poems were The Anteater and The Porcupine with the worst being The Tummy Beast. Overall rating is 2 stars. Individual ratings and reviews below.

THE PIG *
THE CROCODILE *
THE LION **
THE SCORPION **
THE ANTEATER ***
THE PORCUPINE ***
THE COW **
THE TOAD AND THE SNAIL ***
THE TUMMY BEAST *


THE PIG *

A pig discovers his purpose for life. Well that's sufficiently disturbing and completely disgusting. I'm surprised more children aren't vegetarians from this imagery. 1 star.


THE CROCODILE *

A crocodile's meal habits concerning what goes well with children are considered. This was okay. Kind of bland and gross. 1 star.


THE LION **

A person offers the lion some food but he doesn't want any of the options offered. Kind of boring but luckily very short. 2 stars.


THE SCORPION **

Children should watch out for a scorpion named Stingaling who likes to hide in beds. This was alright but not really funny. 2 stars.


THE ANTEATER ***

A spoiled boy makes his father buy him a giant anteater and gets more than he bargained for.  His aunt comes to visit and the anteater hears ant instead of aunt and gobbles her up.  This one was actually kind of funny.


THE PORCUPINE ***

A girl sits down without looking and ends up with a butt full of prickles. Amusing little tale about sitting before you look and where you can go to get help.  The mum takes her to the dentist to get the prickles pulled.


THE COW **

A bizarre tale about a cow who can fly and a rude man who gets what he deserves when he calls the cow crazy. This was okay. 2 stars.


THE TOAD AND THE SNAIL ***

A boy is swimming in the pond when he meets a giant toad who offers him a ride. But when they jump to France they run into some trouble. This was alright, slightly funny and extremely bizarre. 3 stars.


THE TUMMY BEAST *

A fat boy blames his eating habits on the person in his belly. Although somewhat funny the idea of having a person in his tummy creating the growling, I lost my interest as soon as the poem calls the boy himself fat. I don't know I think body size should be carefully handled in children's literature. 1 star.

What is it with childrens books and having people getting eaten alive...I've been revisiting a lot of classic kids books with rhymes and poems and every single one has rhymes about children being eaten. I was expecting a collection of funny animal rhymes with maybe a slight immature bend to them to make little kids laugh...but instead every story is just about some animal eating a person, every story ends the same way, the animal eats the person the end. The pig eats the farmer...the crocodile eats 6 children...the lion eats a person...the anteater...eats a person...it's not funny it's not original. We normaly eat animals but in this story the animal eats the people ha ha get it I'm so funny and original it's so deep if you think about it....let me just write it 10 more times.

I'm going to give it a low rating, the book dragged on I found it grating.
I found the stories unoriginal, it's moral lessons total bull.

Another DELIGHTFUL audiobook production of Dahl’s brilliant tales!

Als kind heb ik alle boeken van Roald Dahl verslonden. Ik vond ze geweldig, vol fantasie. Heerlijk om bij weg te dromen. Deze gedichten zijn allemaal een beetje gek en daardoor zo leuk. Juist, omdat je aanvoelt, dat het niet echt kan, is het zo leuk om erbij te griezelen. Roald Dahl heeft zo'n eigen stijl en zijn boeken zijn tijdloos, blijven leuk. Heerlijk om na zoveel jaren nog eens te lezen.

(10e boek Boekenbingo 2017)

It reads kind of amateurish for such a famous author. There were quite a few instances of very lazy rhyming that were awkward to read as he doesn't end the line where a natural pause would be.

E.g.

"A Frenchman frequently regales
Himself with half-a-dozen SNAILS!"

If you read for rhyme, it reads like "A Frenchman frequently regales.... (awkward pause) himself with half-a-dozen SNAILS!"

And if you try to read it without the pause to make it sound more natural, you lose the rhyme.

The natural place where the line break should be would be after "himself".

Review of Dirty Beasts By Roald Dahl Genre: Poetry Rating 3/5

I like this book because it is full of poems!

What is the scorpion? What can the Roly-poly bird become? What does an anteater eat when it is hungry? Why does a lion refuse the tastiest meat dishes when it is hungry? Roald Dahl’s book Dirty Beasts answers it all.
Filled with adventure and fiction from top to bottom, this book will serve as enjoyment for all ages.

I recommend this book to people who like poems!

Are you into a gory story
Of dirty beasts that won't make you worry
As it turns out to be some kind of animation
Of the author's never ending imagination

First the story of a pig
Whose brain is sort of big
He dreams of doing great thing
But end up eating the owner without a wink

Come next Crocky Wock the crocodile
That puts boys and girls on his food pile
This bed time story will give you nightmare
As the Crocky Wock Crocodile show up to stare

Complete review in http://justaveragereader.blogspot.co....

Seriously, this has got to be one most grotesque books EVER (For those who do not know what “grotesque” means than check a dictionary). The wolf that eats grandma in Little Red Riding Hood, A pig that shoots a farmer! My nine year old read this and hated it. Books with such violence should have an age limit! The only reason I gave it two stars is because it was mildly humorous. Totally horrifying!

Is it weird that I wished all the poems were as humorously morbid as the first few? The latter ones are far more tame.