Puffin and The Roald Dahl Story Company changes hundreds of words in Dahl’s works

Roald Dahl penned countless children's classics transporting readers to other fantastical worlds inspiring movies and musicals but the versions pulled from library shelves today may not be as doll wrote them. Britain's Telegraph detailed hundreds of word changes across the author's works made by dolls publisher Puffin and the Roald Dahl story company since 2020. Omissions and additions related to weight gender race and more. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the enormously fat nine-year-old boy is now just enormous. Remember Miss Trunchbull and Matilda? Her great horsey face is no longer horsey. In The Witches even if she is working as a cashier has been replaced with top scientist and the Cloud men from James and the Giant Peach are now Cloud people. The degree of such changes has prompted an eruption of backlash.

Legendary writer Salman Rushdie tweeted, Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Dahl has long been controversial. Decades after his death Dahl's family issued an apology for his prejudiced remarks and interviews. Today the Roald Dahl story company told NBC News reviewing works his language is not unusual. It leaned on a collective focused on inclusivity to ensure that Roald Dahl's wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today. Joining a growing list of publishers and literary estates reevaluating older works. Dr.

Seuss Enterprises stopped six books from being published in 2021 because of racist imagery. We're not talking about editing or evaluating or ruining a position. We're looking at how do we make children's literature more inclusive for all children. I have no idea why we have an issue with that. Dahl's updated prints became available in the UK last summer. It's not clear if the red pen will hit pages in the US next. Emily Iqueta, NBC News.

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