Sunday Times 2
Children prefer ‘Twilight’ over ‘The Twits’
View(s):By Anna Edwards
Loved by generations for his dark humour and wildly imaginative tales, Roald Dahl’s books have been a firm favourite for generations.
But it would appear that the younger wave of readers are now ignoring their copy of The Twits for the latest Twilight novel.
A survey has found the prolific writer, famed for his surreal stories, is more popular with adults than youngsters.
The latest national What Kids are Reading report found that although he was the most-read author, he did not feature in the top ten books children most enjoy reading.
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| Well-loved literature: The Twits (right) by Roald Dahl (left),
is a classic for many adults who pass it on to their children |
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Instead, research appears to show that adults are encouraging children to read the novels, including famous works Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG, The Independent reported.
The report’s authors, Renaissance Learning, conducted a survey of more than 300,000 schoolchildren aged five to 16-years-old.
The most popular book was Rachel Caine’s Glass Houses, the first in her Morganville Vampire series, according to the newspaper.
Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling Twilight books – about angst-ridden teenagers, wolves and vampires – were another favourite.
Dahl comes out top in the ten most-read children’s authors, along with other writers such as Jacqueline Wilson.
But in a sign that literary tastes are changing across the younger generation, he doesn’t have a single book in the top ten best-loved books.
Dahl, who died in 1990, wrote dozens of books and poems for children and adults which have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.
The writer, whose first book is not James and The Giant Peach as is widely believed, but a picture book called The Gremlins, came to prominence as a children’s writer in the 1960s.
He composed his work at a shed at the bottom of his garden in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
The grandfather never mastered typewriting, so used a pencil to write his stories – of which there would be numerous drafts because he ‘could never get anything right the first time.’
His first published work, inspired by a meeting with Captain Hornblower creator C. S. Forester, was ‘A Piece Of Cake’ on 1 August 1942.
The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post for US$900 and published under the title ‘Shot Down Over Libya’.
After reading the account C.S. Forester told him in a letter: ‘Did you know you’re a writer? I haven’t had to change a word,’ his official website recalls.
Such is his universal appeal that the anniversary of his birthday on September 13 is celebrated as ‘Roald Dahl Day’ in Africa, the United Kingdom and Latin America.
© Daily Mail, London
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