Bookshop owners in Sheffield have said they fully support publishing house Puffin’s decision to release revised editions of author Roald Dahl’s children’s books.
Rosie May, 43, co-owner of Sheffield LGBTQ bookshop Juno, said it is “a good thing” that the alterations are taking place, saying she would rather read her child a Roald Dahl book that’s “more relevant to modern society”.
The controversy came after Puffin books announced that the latest editions of some of Roald Dahl’s classics will have sections re-written to remove potentially offensive language.
Mrs May, whose bookshop doesn’t stock Dahl’s work, thinks editing the classic books is a positive step, saying: “These books are very very old and reflect the views of the time and society in which they were written rather than those of a modern society and so it is right that they are altered to keep pace with what life is like now.”
The bookseller also believes the continuous reading of the originals will still hold value to wider society.
“If adults want to read the originals to their children, then hopefully it might inspire conversations about certain things that aren’t okay about why you wouldn’t talk about people in a particular way when referring to what they look like or what they do.”
Books set to be altered by Puffin include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, and Fantastic Mr Fox.
Some of the edits include The Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach, which will now be known as Cloud-People, Mrs Twit will no longer be called ‘ugly’, and any use of the word ‘fat’ in all the books listed to be edited will be removed.
The announcement of the changes sparked outrage among some prominent members of the fiction scene.
Best-selling author Michael Schellenberger went to Twitter to express his opinions saying the editing is “totalitarian censorship” and should be “broadly condemned by authors and publishers”
The publisher of the books of the late Roald Dahl has made hundreds of changes to them, supposedly to make them more palatable to “sensitive” audiences. This is totalitarian censorship and should be broadly condemned by authors & publishers. https://t.co/ysXBzdgrDR
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 18, 2023
ShefNews spoke to a dozen Sheffield-based bookstores, with all saying they would sell the new revisions of Dahl’s books.
Alex Maxwell the owner of another Sheffield bookshop La Biblioteka urges people to not let the recent controversy “stop them from reading classic literature”.
The 37-year-old also said: “It doesn’t matter if someone is ugly or not, they can still be evil characters where you still get suspense and mystery and thrill and I’m sure it won’t stop people from getting hooked to Dahl’s books.”