Roald Dahl’s children’s books are being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher, via the use of outside consultancy firm, Inclusive Minds, which aims to make children's books more inclusive, less offensive and accessible.

One example:

“Aunt Sponge was terrifically fat / And tremendously flabby at that,” and, “Aunt Spiker was thin as a wire / And dry as a bone, only drier.”

Both verses removed, replaced by:

“Aunt Sponge was a nasty old brute / And deserved to be squashed by the fruit,” and, “Aunt Spiker was much of the same / And deserves half of the blame.”

Books though are meant to provoke thought, creativity, open minds and create debate, for people of all ages including children. For example, here is a list of the top 13 controversial books of all times. You can read some of the content below and understand why.

http://www.rd.com/list/most-controversial-books-of-all-time/

We have religious and holy books too. They have a place in society. They're not for everyone, but just because the content may upset someone or not be as inclusive as some would like, it doesn't mean they have no value or that they should be changed or modified.

We also have calls for an Adelaide Writers Author to be banned because of her pro Russia views.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/adelaide-writers-week-defends-scheduling-susan-abulhawa/101981806

We have also had people protesting against drag queens reading books to children at libraries.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-07/christian-lobby-anti-pussay-poppins-drag-library-launceston/101937194

Books are not there for you to like or dislike. They are there for you to learn and hopefully gain something from - end of story. So why all the fuss?

Baa Baa was a black sheep not a rainbow one
- And you can't convince me otherwise.

Stopping Russians from participation would be racist, and anti-Russian.
You'd make yourself exactly what you claim to be against if you ban them.

Is this for real ?

There will always be people making a fuss about something. Not so long ago, a gentleman called Nathan was making a fuss about Bibles being dropped off at people's doors.

I'm amazed that the fusspots in this case can legally require the rewriting or banning of books in the supposedly democratic West. They rewrite history these days, but they start from scratch, will a living Lefty historian seeing to it.

Of course, Dahl's family have wet themselves and apologised for the author's language.

Fortunately, there are probably thousands of well cared for books in the hands of collectors and people who just love having them. And 'fat ugly' people will go on living for a long time yet.

It is only in totalitarian societies that books are burned - is it not? Perhaps that horrible little man wanting to rewrite our Constitution might think that burning Dahl's work would the-right-thing-to-do.

There are lots and lots of fat, ugly people and people who fit Dahl's descriptions. Are we going to ban them as well?

Dear Nathan,

I would say to the publishers - "Leave Roald Dahl's
books alone!" "Don't you dare change a word".

Roald Dahl's books are extremely popular with children
all around the world because the books encourage children
to use their imaginations, expand their vocabularies, and gain
a better understanding of themselves and others.

In many of Dahl's books kids come across unfamiliar words
that Dahl invented himself . During his career Dahl built
up a lexicon of around 500 new words - all of which add
depth and meaning to the wonderful world of Dahl's books.

Words like:

Gobblefunk

Frobscottle

Snozzcumber

Phizz-whizzing

Biffsquiggled

And so many others.

Change the words and the magic goes!

Hi Foxy,

>>I would say to the publishers - "Leave Roald Dahl's
books alone!" "Don't you dare change a word".<<

- I agree with you, and I'm almost surprised you're holding the anti-woke position for once.
Good for you (Yay!)

Meanwhile I bet you got no problems with Ukraine purging 19 million Russian and Soviet era books from Ukrainian libraries?
- I guess one can't win 'em all, right?

Hooray for Green Eggs and Ham.

I agree Foxy, but phizz-whizzing is a bit extreme, don't you think?

NathanJ, I say there is nothing like a good old fashioned book burning to warm the cockles of one's heart. Take the Oxford Dictionary for example, its full of obscenities and non politically correct words, they must be expunged immediately if we are not to suffer the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah!

Social Media Sites are the most evil reading nowadays. Burn computers & phones perhaps ?

Hi Armchair Critic,

Why are you surprised?

I am a librarian, a children's book author, and I used
to run Storytime sessions at Municipal libraries for years.

Why would I support the turfing of Russian books? I grew up with
them.

You're a strange bloke AC.

give me a Russian Children's book any day over LGBT?? rot !

A few years ago I wrote a children's short story about a
young Russian girl who was having trouble fitting
in at school. she'd lost her father in a car accident.
She spoke many languages - and because she was
different she was picked on. She stopped speaking
altogether. A Chinese boy befriended her. He also
spoke many languages. And he made her see that being
different was alright. It's our differences that make
us unique.

I remember a little girl coming up to me after one
Storytime session and thanking me for the story.That little
girl never once missed any of the Storytime sessions.

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for raising this topic for discussion.

Getting children to read is so important and getting
them through books they love is a way to do it. I remember
after one Storytime session a few years ago - a little
girl came up to me and thanked me for my choice of a
"Middle-Eastern" Story with which she could identify.

Her grandmother told me much later that the little girl
had not been interested in reading until after that
Storytime session. She then started to take an interest
in books. A lesson learned all round I'd say.

Serious; Authors have been opposed and oppressed, and had their books destroyed by the extreme church and state ever since Johannes Gutenberg printed the first mass produced book around the year 1440. It was no accident that book of Gutenberg's was the Holy Bible, the only approved literature by the powers of the time for the masses, it was deemed to contain all the required knowledge that the ordinary person needed to know.

Books contain knowledge, and start people questioning the established "laws" of society, questioning everything from scientific "facts" to the social order. No wonder learning through books has been opposed by everyone from the Pope to Adolf Hitler, to them they are the most dangerous weapon ever invented.

Great work Foxy, there is nothing greater than teaching children.

Dear Paul,

The destruction of books has continued over millennia.
But so has their preservation. We've always had those
who continued the fight and managed to sneak the books
through. Book smugglers continued the fight and will do so
no matter what.

Dear Paul,

There's a great children's book published in 2022.
"Pages and Co: The Book Smugglers," by British
author - Anna James. That not only the kids would love
(ages 8 onwards). But adults as well. It's a great read.

And talking about books smugglers - there's also:

"The Book Smugglers" by David E. Fishman.
It's the story of Vilnius Ghetto residents who
rescued thousands of rare books and manuscripts
first from the Nazis and then from the Soviets.

And-

"The Last Book Smugglers," by Birute Putrius.
This one is set in 1902 Lithuania when a group of
rebels armed with books triumphs against the mighty
Russian Empire.

So many good reads are available for us.

Piers Morgan rightly describes the censoring of Roald Dahl's books as 'vandalism, and more appropriate to Mao's China, when actually, it's already quite appropriate in the UK, obviously.

Hi Nathan,

Here's an appropriate reply to "Why all the fuss over books?"
it's by Roald Dahl himself:

http://poemhunter.com/poem/mike-teavee/

Hi Nathan,

Thank you for starting this discussion.

I trust that books will always be around and
that my grandkids will also pass on a love
of reading to their children - as their parents
and I have done with them.

Nathan, I forgot to Thank You for your concern about
the Roald Dahl books. All lovers of books should be
concerned.

Had those books for my kids, back in the day. Had Noddy and Big Ears as well, seems Big Ears turned out to be a paedophile, just can't trust cartoon characters around children, not like you can trust Catholic Clergy with the little ones.