Puffin Books became the focus of a ton of backlash last week. They announced they would be releasing edited versions of several Roald Dahl classics. The changes included edits to phrases like “enormously fat” to just “enormous,” taking the adjective “black” out of descriptions of the evil tractors in “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and more. The announcement gave the publisher more trouble than they bargained for.
Puffin U.K. has altered their decision. They’re now giving readers a choice, by releasing “The Roald Dahl Collection” under the Penguin imprint. “The Roald Dahl Classic Collection” will be available alongside the newly released Puffin Roald Dahl books. “Readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer,” Puffin says.
As compromises go, this is acceptable. Giving readers both versions is satisfactory enough.
“As a children’s publisher, our role is to share the magic of stories with children with the greatest thought and care,” Francesca Dow, MD of Penguin Random House Children’s, said. “Taking care for the imaginations and fast-developing minds of young readers is both a privilege and a responsibility. We also recognize the importance of keeping Dahl’s classic texts in print. By making both Puffin and Penguin versions available, we are offering readers the choice to decide how they experience Roald Dahl’s magical, marvelous stories.”
There are seventeen Dahl titles available within the uncensored collection: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Matilda,” “The BFG,” “Fantastic Mr Fox,” “George’s Marvellous Medicine,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “The Witches,” “The Twits,” “The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me,” “The Enormous Crocodile,” “Esio Trot,” “Billy and the Minpins,” “The Magic Finger,” “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator,” “Danny the Champion of the World,” “Revolting Rhymes” and “Dirty Beasts.”
