Rory Campbell:
Roald Dahl created, have captivated readers for generations.
Girl 1:
I really loved his books. He was like one of my favourite authors when I was little.
Boy 1:
I loved it back in the day, like singing primary school and everything. That was good.
Rory Campbell:
Imagination ruling over reality on a shelf full of classics, Matilda, The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the Twits.
Man 1:
I think there can still be value in the old books.
Rory Campbell:
But now, the Twits in particular has called the critical eye of an academic. Writing in the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, primary school teacher and uni lecturer, Dr. Mellie Green, criticises the way Mr. Twit’s beard is used to paint him as a grubby, dodgy, horrible old man, decrying Dale’s representation as, “Vulgarity, mockery, and moral judgement , encouraging readers to associate bearded men with suspicion and distrust.” She’s also unhappy with the way Mrs. Twit’s cranky character is continually called ugly, a hag and a cow. “Verbal abuse, coercive control and humiliation are trivialised through slapstick … Reinforcing misogynistic and appearance-based stereotypes.”
Boy 1:
It’s a kid’s book at the end of the day, isn’t it? I don’t know. Every author’s probably got their prejudices and it works into that writing. Who cares?
Colleen Harkin:
We ought not to try and present everything to them as being perfect because it simply isn’t.
Sarah Mayor Cox:
There’s a lot of making things terribly black and white, and for most children in their world, their life is not black and white. So it helps them understand who they are in relation to these characters and situations.
Rory Campbell:
The Twits is on the primary school curriculum in some states and reading classrooms across the country. Dr. Green hasn’t called for it to be removed, but says educators should look far wider than just Roald Dahl.
Colleen Harkin:
But I think that really misunderstands Dahl’s work and it misunderstands the intelligence of the young reader. They’re not sitting there passively engaging and accepting cruelty. As they read, they’re making decisions themselves.
Sarah Mayor Cox:
Some of Dahl’s representations of people are really, really dated. I don’t think that there’s room in the current Australian curriculum for Dahl, except for perhaps a short side step.
Rory Campbell:
Roald Dahl wrote 43 books which have sold more than 250 million copies. He died 36 years ago. He knew he was pushing the line when he created some of his characters.
Roald Dahl:
Well, there’s nothing more boring than a totally good person. They’ve got to have quirks and bad habits and things like that.
Rory Campbell:
This isn’t the first time Roald Dahl’s classics have come under scrutiny. In fact, three years ago, the publisher went so far as to change some of the words to use more inclusive language.
Now, two versions of the books are sold, one with the original words, the other updated, still capturing those imaginations all these years later.
Girl 1:
It just helped me read in my free time and help me connect to books and stuff.
Sarah Mayor Cox:
It’s so important that children are met at the right time with books that are going to speak to them on the level that they are interested in, but then take them forward into new areas.
This transcript of Colleen Harkin on 10 News Plus 27 April 2026 been edited for clarity.
