Suppressing antisemitism in Dahl’s “The Witches” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

“We’ve listened to the debate over the past week, and it’s been great to see the questions around how stories from another era can be told in a way that’s modern and exciting,” wrote the Managing Director of Penguin Random House Children’s in the U.K

The creator of the characters such as the twits and Fantastic Mr. Fox died in 1990 at age 76. His books have sold more than 300 million copies and have been translated into 63 languages, while there have been numerous adaptations of his work for both the big and small screens.

The author’s estate apologized for antisemitic comments made during his lifetime, which were known to be controversial.

These revisions have been worked on by “sensitivity readers” from an organization called Inclusive Minds , which describes itself as “a collective for people who are passionate about inclusion, diversity, equality and accessibility in children’s literature, and are committed to changing the face of children’s books.”

In a lengthy report published on Saturday, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph revealed that it had found hundreds of changes across the author’s many children’s books. Close analysis by its journalists revealed that language relating to gender, race, weight, mental health and violence had been cut or rewritten. This included removing words such as “fat” and “ugly,” as well as descriptions using the colors black and white.

Journalists working on the piece found 59 changes in “The Witches” alone, with hundreds more discovered in Dahl’s other popular books, such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda.”

Rushdie, NPR, and the Children’s Books of Alan Rushdie: Why Do We Need to Be Enormous?” The Prime Minister reportedly warned against airbrushing

Rushdie has been known for being a target for his own work. After publishing a controversial novel, he was called for his death in Iran and hid for a long time. Rushdie lost sight in one eye and has nerve damage as a result of being stabbed in August.

When asked on Monday whether it was appropriate to exclude children’s books, the Prime Minister agreed with the author that you shouldn’t.

The spokesperson added that “it’s important that works of literature and fiction are preserved and not airbrushed,” and said: “We’ve always defended the right to free speech and expression.”

NPR tried to speak with the company that manages the copyrights of Dahl’s books, they didn’t respond.

She said the organization was alarmed by the changes, which she said had been made in a purported effort to scrub the books of that which might offend someone.

She wrote: “If we start down the path of trying to correct for perceived slights instead of allowing readers to receive and react to books as written, we risk distorting the work of great authors and clouding the essential lens that literature offers on society.”

He highlighted the fact that whatever changes might be made today, millions of older editions are circulating in schools, libraries, second-hand stores and elsewhere.

The character Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is no longer called “fat.” Instead he is described as “enormous,” The Telegraph reports.

The New Puffins, A Novel Collection of Dahl’s Mischievous Tales (The Witches Are Ghoulish Under Their Wigs)

Further, the changes to these books include adding language not originally written by Dahl. In his 1983 book The Witches, he writes that witches are bald beneath their wigs. There are many reasons why women may wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that according to an added line in new editions.

The new collection of stories by the quirky writer will be available from the UK at the Penguin Random House Children’s store. There are 17 titles that will sit alongside the new Puffin books for young readers that are designed for children who have never read a piece of writing on their own.

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, described the debate and subsequent outcome as “heartening”. “One thing that was striking about this debate over the last week is that there is a fair amount of unity, not total unity, but a fair amount of consensus that Yes, this answer isn’t the right one to address the possibility of being offended. A person would rather have someone come in and scrub all of the work they don’t like than to explain it to their kids.

Dahl’s mischievous, even mean-spiritedness, is often seen as part of his books’ appeal. Words like horsey face and idiot could be considered the most serious of his offenses.