This was my favorite book as a child! I love the storyline because it is so original and different. Dahl has a way with words and I am always intrigued by his books. Children will stay engaged because you want to see what happens to the Twits at the end. The Illustrator does a great job at capturing Dahl's humor and they really add to the story. "No matter how you look like physically, if you're a good person, it would shine through and would makes you a beautiful person". This is a great lesson for children to learn and can be incorporated into the classroom. ( )

Do you stand on your head all day? Is your master’s dream to open up an upside down monkey circus? Do your masters pull pranks on each other? Do you try to stop birds from turning into bird pie? Well Muggle-Wump does. Muggle-wump is an upside down trained monkey. Muggle-wump and his family live with the Twits. Every Wednesday Mr. Twit puts hug tight glue on a dead tree. Birds fly over and sit on the tree not knowing about hug tight glue. The next day Mrs. Twit will turn it all into bird pie. Muggle-wump warns the birds about the hung tight glue but their English and he’s African. One day an African roly-poly bird comes by. Can this bird help save the poor birds from turning into bird pie? Then read; The Twits. By Roald Dahl. ( )

This is a book I read out to Mr Bear. I'd previously had a copy foisted on me by the lovely bookcrossing (and occasionally LibraryThinging) jubby, who was shocked and appalled that I'd never read it as a child. So I read it a few years ago to myself, and wasn't so impressed.

What a difference reading it to a six-year old makes! Mr Bear made appropriate disgusted noises at all the tricks the Twits play on each other (and guessed a few tricks as well, so he felt awfully chuffed), and was entertained, amused, and fascinated. I can see we're going to be reading more Roald Dahl in the future. ( )

When reading this book, I though of some of my fifth graders (now entering middle school) who had low confidence when it came to reading. This book is a funny read, and a good way to encourage students and help build their confidence. ( )

One of Dahl's gleefully naughty children's books, complete with the most disgusting description of a person's beard ever. I believe that Mr. and Mrs. Twit are two of the most nastiest and horrid characters in children's literature, from their repulsive looks to the mean and horrible tricks they play on one another (Mrs. Twit enjoys hiding her glass eyeball in unexpected places and lacing the spaghetti with worms; Mr. Twit works for weeks to convince his wife that she has "The Shrinks") to being unpleasant to their four pet Mugglewump monkeys, and catching birds with Hugtight Sticky Glue to make bird pie.

The misanthropic Mr. and Mrs. Twit become the target of revenge by the monkeys (with the help of the Roly-Poly Bird and other English birds)--who have finally had enough. Of course, nasty people cannot be expected to come to a good end, and the monkeys craftily strategize to turn the tables on the horrible couple.

The underlying moral here is that no matter what you look like physically, if you have good thoughts, they will shine right through and make you a beautiful person, and of course the opposite also unfortunately applies.

Book Details:

Title The Twits
Author Roald Dahl
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )

I best book I read as a kid. I love it. ( )

Short and silly but hilarious. ( )

Mr and Mrs Twit are dreadful. They play beastly tricks and they not only play them on each other- they are quite likely to involve the unsuspecting local birds or the Muggle-Wumps, the family of monkeys. But the time comes for revenge and the Twist deserve their nasty and comical fate. ( )

Wickedly funny. Worked well as a read-aloud. ( )

This is the only Roald Dahl that I hadn't read. It was ok - not his best. The Twits are husband and wife and although they are very funny, they are not too bright! Mr. Twit has a long, shaggy beard that has bits of rotten fish, apple, stale bread, etc. stuck in it. Mrs. Twit used to be very pretty when she was young, but she kept being mean and having horrible thoughts so ended up as an ugly old hag! The Twits love to play mean tricks on each other.

In their garden they have a cage of monkeys and a dead tree that the Twits covered in glue and made a pie out of the birds that got stuck there. The monkey's have had enough with their ill-treatment so they hatch up a plan for the Twits to get their come uppance.

Good kids book - not a good adults book ( )

Kind of cute, but there's not much of a story at all. ( )

(From the back of the book)

Mr. and Mrs. Twits are the smelliest, nasiest, ugliest people int he world. They hate everything - except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle -Wumps, stand on their heads all day. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough. They don't just want out, they want revenge.

Mr. Twit is a 60 year old twit who never washes his spiky, and very, very bushy beard. If you look closely, (not that you would want to,) you can see bits and pieces of every meal he has ever had stuck in his beard.

Mrs. Twit was born a beauty, but over the years, she grew uglier and uglier, because of all her ugly thoughts. She became so ugly you could hardly stand to look at her.
Mr. & Mrs. Twit like to play mean and spiteful games on one another. Horrible, horrible tricks. Mrs. Twits glass eye can be found in Mr. Twits beer mug, followed by frogs in the bed, worms in the spaghetti and trying to fly Mrs. Twit off to the moon, with mulitudes of balloons.

The Muggle-Wump (a monkey) and his family plus many, many birds they have saved from being made into Bird Pies, decide while the Twits are out buying guns that are going to glue the living room upside down, to make up for the nasty treatment the Twits have inflicted upon these animals.
When the Twits return with their shiny new guns, and find their home upside down, they stand on their heads thinking everything will be right side up.
Eventually, both of the Twits get "The Dreaded Shrinks" and their bodies collapse into themselves, until all that is left of the Twits are 2 piles of old clothing, their shoes and Mrs. Twits walking stick.

The story has no real direction until around halfway through the book, when Roald Dahl introduced the Muggle-Wumps and the story behind the Bird Pies. Overall, a little disgusting, in the descriptions of beards and what not, but still a light, easy, fun read, when you have half an hour to spare. ( )

brilliant , ithink that everyone should be reading it.

This is a book I read and loved as a child, and recently decided to re-read my Roald Dahl books. I have to say, I think I found The Twits funnier this time round!

This is a very short children's book. The main characters are Mr and Mrs Twit, the monkey family and their friend the Roly-Poly bird.

Here is the synopsis from Amazon.co.uk

Mr and Mrs Twit are extremely nasty, so the Muggle-Wump monkeys and the Roly-Poly bird hatch an ingenious plan to give them just the ghastly surprise they deserve!

I just adored this book. Roald Dahl has such an amazing imagination. I wasn't sure what to expect as this is a predominantly children's book, but actually I was pleasantly surprised. Although I would not call this book particularly politically correct - having been written some years ago - the book had me laughing all the way through. Some of the nasty tricks Dahl thinks up are incredible. How he has come up with ideas is just beyond me!

My favourite character was the Roly-Poly bird. He definitely had the the funniest one-liners, which were relevant even to our society today. It was these lines which make this an excellent book for adults as well as children.

If you are looking for a book to enjoy with your children, or just a humorous light read, The Twits is certainly a good contender. There are some books we will just never be too old for!

10/10 ( )

Roald Dahl at his absolute worst (or best) describing a pair of absolutely awful people playing pranks on one another and then receiving their comeuppance from monkeys and birds. Well, yeah that’s really how it happens in the book. Lot’s of gross-out material for kids fills this slim volume. ( )

Perennial favourite for primary school students, full of the dark humour Dahl is loved for. ( )

Lorenzo 5/14retured
Nicole 4/16returned

In Dahl's typically outre outing, the repulsive, misanthropic Mr. and Mrs. Twit become the target of revenge by the Mugglewump monkeys--who have finally had enough.

Mr. and Mrs. Twit are two of the most disgusting, nasty, and horrid characters in children's literature, from their repulsive looks (the story opens with a long, detailed description of Mr. Twit's unkempt beard) to the mean and horrible tricks they play on one another (Mrs. Twit enjoys hiding her glass eyeball in unexpected places and lacing the spaghetti with worms; Mr. Twit works for weeks to convince his wife that she has "The Shrinks").

A short but very enjoyable read. There's not too much I can say about this book without giving the plot away, but what I can say is that I love the Roly-Poly Bird and the monkeys, and the ending is terrific! There are also some lovely words of wisdom imparted ('a person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly'). And what would a Roald Dahl book be without Quentin Blake's illustrations?

I believe this particular Roald Dahl story is aimed at younger readers than some of his other books (such as Matilda), but it's just as wonderful a read and has always been one of my personal favourites. ( )

The Twits is an odd book about a husband and wife who have an unordinary relationship. You should read it to find out more. ( )

This book made me keep reading more. For example there was a man and woman who really nasty and mean..
It is not hard to read and easy to understand so I will pefer you to read this book. ( )

Another gruesome read from one of my favourite authors. Roald Dahl really knows how to tap into a child's sense of humour. When Mrs Twit cooks up worms for Mr Twits tea, ooh how I squirmed while willing him to eat them just the same. ( )

hilariously evil and schemy. ( )

"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on their face. And when that person has ugly thoughts everyday, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier unti it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it"