The Twits

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Dahl once again serves up another irreverently funny story for the more astute and world-weary young readers of the world. The Twits is a sound reminder that the world is full of mostly awful people who will do mostly awful things to other people, like you for instance little boy and/or girl. So in typical Roald Dahl fashion they get exactly what is coming to them. They may be caricatures, though they are a very good example to children about why we should never hate. Even though they are horrible, hating them is the wrong thing to do because we are just as bad as them. Toxic people should be removed from our lives. There’s no point hating them, just walk away from them like the animals attempt to do here. The Twits". Vanguard Animation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012 . Retrieved 21 January 2012.

The book opens with a rather strange tirade against men with beards. But fair enough, it's just a fashion choice. What I found far less palatable as something being channeled into the heads of children was the assertion that ugly people are evil (have ugly thoughts). This is basically an extension of medieval thinking to the end that bad things happen to bad people and if misfortune befalls someone it's safe to assume that they had it coming. So, as an adult, all I could think of is, " Dahl, what were you on??" Mr. Twit was a twit. He was born a twit. And, now at the age of sixty, he was a bigger twit than ever. The Twits are ugly people - through and through. They think nothing of animal neglect or outright abuse. They are horrible to each other and everyone around them. They play pranks on each other; such as worms in food, frogs in beds, psychological torture, and air space incursions.

The Great Glue Painting Begins The Carpet Goes on the Ceiling The Furniture Goes Up The Ravens Swoop Over The Twits Are Turned Upside Down The Monkeys Escape The Twits Get the Shrinks

That is what a politically correct reviewer from the nanny state would say before banning the book. But not children! What an opportune time to read 'The Twits' with so many Mr Twit clones around. Roald had the right idea. They're dirty shifty buggers who paint trees in glue to catch birds and torture monkeys About halfway, the story falls apart and becomes something much more random. I didn't like that. It felt like Dahl couldn't stretch the escalation anymore so just gave up. (My kid stayed interested because suddenly, there were monkeys and birds.) As part of a plan to make Mrs. Twit feel that she is shrinking, he slowly extended her chair and cane until she was convinced that she was getting shorter.I originally read this book in either elementary school or middle school and really enjoyed it. Since I am reading all of Roald Dahl's books again, I thought "why not," and re-read this one. Surprisingly, I don't remember this story at all. Much like The Magic Finger, the character's vengeance is swift, clever and almost disproportionately brutal. And while it was cute because the animals were inventive and the evil folks certainly got their comeuppance, it still had me raising my eyebrows. I read a lot of Roald Dahl books as a child, and have read quite a few more to my own children, most recently to my disabled youngest daughter. The Twits was one of those. My birds and I got into a big literary debate this morning. The book was Dahl's The Twits. Lester the Molestor maintains that I would be more delicious in a pie. My vote is for a hearty bird pie. You are what you eat. Who would want to be me? There is a big hungry gator waiting for us to decide. She said we might settle it over a scrabble game... We lost. It was Lester's fault! He doesn't know enough Q words.... Mr. Twit puts a frog in Mrs. Twit’s bed and says that it is a Giant Skillywiggler… Draw what a Skillywiggler might look like.