The Twits and Matilda are among the much-loved Roald Dahl characters set to appear in brand new stories inspired by the late British author’s work, due to be published later this year.
Stories written by Greg James, Adam Kay and Konnie Huq will celebrate Dahl’s “unique sense of the extraordinary, the magical and the mischievous”, said Ruth Knowles, publishing director at Puffin.
James and Chris Smith have co-written a spin-off of The Twits, titled The Twits Next Door, illustrated by Emily Jonesto be published in August. When the Lovelies move in next door to Mr and Mrs Twit, the Twits try to rid themselves of their “horribly nice” new neighbours.
“To be offered the opportunity to write a story starring the most revolting and hilarious pair of his famous characters was exciting, a little bit frightening and certainly too good to resist,” said James and Smith. “We’ve had such a great time playing with The Twits and have loved expanding their world and introducing some new characters to it.”
Meanwhile, a festive collection, Charlie and the Christmas Factory, is planned for October, comprising 12 short stories based on the favourite Dahl characters of the collection’s authors. These include Huq, Kay, Adam Hills, Ben Bailey-Smith, Elle McNicoll, Sibéal Pounder and Nadia Shireen among others.
In McNicoll’s story, Matilda is worried about being on the naughty list, while Pounder looks at how Charlie plans to celebrate Christmas at the chocolate factory. In Kay’s tale, set years after the creation of George’s marvellous medicine, his granddaughter Gigi decides to make her own potion.
“We have been so impressed by the authors’ brilliant ability to capture the unique spirit of a Roald Dahl story and bring us some wonderfully funny tales of their own imagination,” said Harriet Murphy, publishing director at the Roald Dahl Story Company. “Roald Dahl’s stories are among some of the greatest children’s books, but we aren’t looking to imitate him. Instead, we wanted the authors to have fun and to use their own voices to take his extraordinary characters and creations into new stories which can delight existing fans and new readers alike.”
The collection will be illustrated by Rikin Parekh. “Of course, I am a firm believer in the magic that is created when words and illustrations blend perfectly,” he said. “And no combination is as magical as that of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake.”
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The first in a series of picture-book versions of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes will be released in May, with illustrations by Adam Larkum.