Ughhh! The rhymes are revolting! (Revolting Rhymes - Roald Dahl)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Revolting Rhymes - Roald Dahl
Date:	25/01/08 (258 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun and enjoyable to read

Disadvantages: none!

Roald Dahl has to be one of those authors that everyone knows. I certainly loved all of his books when I was younger, and they are all still going strong today even though sadly he is no longer around. One of my all time favourites was his book of 'Revolting Rhymes' and I am just beginning to enjoy it second time around as my daughter start to discover it.

Revolting Rhymes is a series of longish poems which are based on six of the most well known fairy tales, such as 'Cinderella' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. However, these are poems with a difference as they give an entirely different slant on all of the stories we know and love so well! There are a lot of comments in the poems poking fun at the characters and saying how silly they were to carry out some of their actions, and there is also a lot more gorey details than in the original tales - although not too much because after all this is a children's book!

One of my favourites in the book is 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' which points out that rather than being a delightful little blonde heroine, Goldilocks was actually a brazen little crook who should have been punished and put in jail! It makes out that the three bears were a very lovely family who's treatment by Goldilocks was quite appalling. I like the lines:

'I say again, how would you feel
If you had made this lovely meal
And some delinquent little tot
Broke in and gobbled up the lot?

Such phrases as 'some delinquent little tot' are so well chosen and funny, and you find these derisive comments throughout the poem. He writes about her 'plonking her fat behind upon a dainty precious chair, and:

'her filthy shoes were thick with grime,
and mud and mush and slush and slime!

So of course it's no wonder that the three bears were very angry indeed!

All of the nursery rhymes are told in a similar fashion, and there is always a twist from what you remember from the traditional tales.

My daughter loves listening to these rhymes and finds them incredibly funny - even though I don't think that she gets everything in them. However, there is enough to seal her enjoyment, even though I do feel that they are probably more suited to slightly older children, probably aged about eight to eleven. However, she loves all the funny words and descriptions particularly the ones which are slightly 'rude' such as Goldilocks' fat behind! That one always causes a certain amount of giggles. Also, the poems are all accompanied by wonderful illustrations by Quentin Blake, who has chosen to give modern day depictions of these characters. One example of this is seeing Snow White in jeans and high heeled shoes surrounded by seven dwarfs who are all ex race horse jockeys.

The poems are all cleverly crafted and are all formed of rhyming couplets. My daughter is now very good at recognising rhymes and very much enjoys trying to guess what some of the rhymes are going to be. This is very good for her listening skills too. All of the stories are great fun to read out like, and if you feel like it, there is the opportunity to put on lots of different funny voices!

So overall this is a very enjoyable book which has definitely stood the test of time. It is enjoyable for both children and adults, and the paperback version is available from Amazon at the moment for £5.24!

Summary: You'll never believe what you read in a fairy tale again!