The Twits

During our (probably brief) break from the Inkheart series, we are reading the Roald Dahl books that Evalina got for Christmas.  First up was The Twits, which I have never read.  We finished it in one night. 

The Story:  Mr. Twit and Mrs. Twit were dreadful human beings.  They were horrible to each other, and pretty horrible to people around them, too.  They were not kind to animals or children.  They had four monkeys (because they used to be monkey trainers) which they treated terribly and were made to stand on their heads all the time.  Mr. Twit really liked to eat Bird Pie, so he smeared a tree outside their house with super sticky glue, to catch the birds... until the monkeys got together with a visiting bird to turn the Twits world upside-down..

The Good:  It's hilarious (what else would you expect from Roald Dahl) and a super quick read.  The Twits are painted as truly ghastly, and you don't feel bad for them when they get their due.  The illustrations by Quentin Blake match the story wonderfully.  Evalina loved it and couldn't (wouldn't) put it down until it was done.


The Bad:  The Twits are really awful people.  They do really mean things to each other.  However, I wouldn't say that's bad, just that you should be aware, you are not going to be reading about nice characters here...

The Verdict:  Get it!  I was laughing out loud.  It's only about 75 pages long, and filled with wonderful illustrations, so it's really quick.  It's fun to see what the animals do to get back at the Twits, and it is definitely worth a read.  Amazon lists it as appropriate for ages 7-11, and I think a little younger would be fine, too.  (Evalina is not quite 7, and I think she would have appreciated this story even a year ago or more..)  I just don't think you can go wrong with Roald Dahl.