And it's happening again!
Roald Dahl had been writing since the 1940s and it's now that everyone decides that his books need to be rewritten in order to avoid causing offence. I understand that times change and what was once acceptable may no longer be the case. But the changes that I've come across seem absolutely pointless. So we can't say 'ugly' but we can say 'beastly.' To be honest, I think beastly sounds worse!
Me and my husband are eighties children so we of course grew up not only reading Roald Dahl books but also had them read to us at school by the teacher during storytime. Our kids have also read them. I think for the most part it's a big fuss over nothing.
I understand that both versions will be available in bookshops, Roald's original version as well as the rewrite. But I just feel that there are more important things going on in the world rather than a few words in a children's book.
What does everyone else say about this?
It's sad that people feel everything needs to be changed. Like a lot of people, I grew up with these children's books. There was never a problem then although I suppose people would say that we didn't know any better then - like we were complete idiots! I've seen some of the changes that have been made and quite frankly I don't know why they bothered! In fact I'm wondering if a lot of this is just a big publicity stunt. Roald Dahl books, along with the works of Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, and A.A. Milne are a big part of British heritage but I fear that at the rate things are going, it won't last for long.