There’s really nothing quite like Dahl when he lets the crazy hang out. He did gross out humor years before Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants and he did it without poop, pee, vomit, wedgies and only a few naked bottoms. All that Dahl needed was a truly disgusting imagination, and in no time flat, the twits are eating worms disguised as spaghetti and scratching their itchy dirty tummies and painting a tree with glue to catch birds for bird pie.
Quentin Blake’s illustrations welcome you even deeper into the world of gross with lovely close ups of beards encrusted in tinned sardine, moldy cornflake and stilton cheese and pies with little bird feet sticking out.
This was my favorite book by Dahl as a child and it’s easy to see why. It’s quite short and while it has plenty of dark and ooky, the good guys do get the best of evil in the end and the pranks are quite brilliant and funny. Definitely a good introduction to Dahl!
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Boys remove their pants. An illustration shows their naked bottoms.
Profanity – “shut up,” “nitwits,” and a wide variety of very inventive although not profane insults.
Death, Violence and Gore – Mrs. Twit hits children and dogs with her stick. She cracks Mr. Twit all over with it. Birds are caught for dinner by smearing glue to a tree. Mr. Twit contemplates eating children. Mrs. Twit also hits monkey. The twits plan to buy guys with lots of bullets.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Mr. Twit drinks beer.
Frightening or Intense Things – Mrs. Twit has a glass eye which she pops out and uses for pranks. Mr. Twit fabricates a sickness called “the shrinks” and warns Mrs. Twit that she will shrink to nothing.
when my kids were young this was one of their all-time favorites!