Revolting Rhymes is a collection of gruesomely hilarious poetry retelling six popular fairy tales. Keeping the unique elements of the fairy tales, Roald Dahl reimagines them in new and hilarious ways. Cinderella decides a jam maker is more her speed, Jack is given a good reason for a bath, Snow-White finds a better use for the magic mirror, Goldilocks' true nature is revealed, Little Red Riding Hood is not fooled by the wolf and the Third Little Pig calls in some help. Overall collection rating was 3.5 stars, rounded to 3 stars. Individual rating and reviews below.

CINDERELLA *****
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK *****
SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS *****
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS ***
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE WOLF **
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS *

CINDERELLA *****

In this one, Cinderella is kind of a brat, the stepsister swaps out the slipper for her own and the Prince refuses to honour his vow to marry whoever fits the slipper instead deciding to chop off heads. Very enjoyable, even if rather brutal. 5 stars.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK *****

Jack trades his cow for a bean and his mother is very unhappy until she discovers that the leaves are golden. Jack climbs the beanstalk but finds that unless he takes a bath there's no way to trick the giant. An amusing tale to encourage baths. 5 stars.

SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS *****

Seven ex horse jockeys take in the lovely Snow White but when they never win gambling at the racecourse, Snow White comes up with a plan to steal her stepmother's magic mirror and cheat their way to being millionaires. Another funny take on a classic with a very creative plan. 5 stars.

GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS ***

The three bears are the victims of a vicious little girl named Goldilocks. I liked the idea of Goldilocks as a thief but I felt the ending didn't really work for me. That said, Dahl does bring up some good points about what you would think if someone broke into your house and ate your porridge. 3 stars.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE WOLF **

Little Red Riding Hood forgets how the story goes and shoots herself a Wolf. Not my favourite take on Little Red Riding Hood. I liked that the Wolf curled his hair to look the part.

THE THREE LITTLE PIGS *

Retaining the elements of the original, the three little pigs are safe in their houses until the big bad wolf appears and blows their houses down. Only the third pig decides to get some help when the wolf plans to blow the place up. It started out good and I liked the third pig calling Miss Hood to deal with the Wolf - but I disliked that she kills the pig too. 1 star. ( )

Six classic children's stories refashioned into something all the more entertaining. They're grim, they rhyme and they're funny almost all the time. No one these days writes children's literature with quite the same boldness that Roald Dahl did; no one probably has the nerve to use the term “slut" in a children's book either. Ah well, nothing wrong with a bit of healthy controversy. ( )

Roald Dahl is a beloved part of so many childhoods. His stories do not talk down to children but show them that even in darkness and despair, there can be humor and hope. The poetry he has written is the same. Finding the ridiculous in the world around us and even in the stories we already know, Dahl is able to expand children's senses of humor and resilience. This book contains six poems that retell classic fairy tales and give them each a rather "revolting" spin. Accompanied by illustrations by Quentin Blake, Dahl shows us new possibilities for the likes of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs. What if Prince Charming likes to cut off heads? What if the giant at the top of the beanstalk ate Jack's mother? Without taking any of them too seriously, he makes all of the stories fun and poetry accessible and the 8 syllable rhymes are fun to speak aloud.

This was fun. Shame there are so few.

I loved Miss Red the most (including the piglet story).
Not sure how I feel about promotion of gambling. Though to be fair, it's mostly calculated gambling.
Goldilocks story lit up my soul. I always did find the whole thing iffy. I mean, just think about it!
Cindy brought up some valid thoughts about wishes and wish fulfilment. ( )

Found in the juvenile section of my local public library. Word of caution for teachers or those who read aloud to their children: read it first! May not be the most appropriate twisted tale for young ones. I quite enjoyed them, but I am an adult who is pretty twisted. ( )