Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes

Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes

Dahl, R. (1982). Roald dahl's revolting rhymes. NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

    This poetry book by Roald Dahl was interesting.  He has cleverly written poetry retelling or giving his point of view on his six favorite fairy tales.  Although I do not believe that I would read the entire book with elementary students. Some of the language I was surprised to see. For example, his take on Cinderella on page seven he writes, “The Prince cried, ‘Who’s this dirty slut?’” I was shocked to see it and disappointed that I would have to leave this poem or parts of the poem out if I read it to my students. I really enjoyed that he wrote poems about fairy tales that students would know and be able to relate, compare, or contrast with. Throughout the book he uses a few other choice words that I would feel uncomfortable reading with students. As an adult, I really enjoyed the poems and they made me laugh while thinking about the “real” fairy tales. 

    He uses the well known fairy tales and keeps the same characters. The characters may take on a different personality or characterization.  He stays close to fairy tales and writes the poems like a narrative poem, telling the story in his own words. He also uses rhymes with each poem which creates a nice rhythm while reading.