Dirty beasts (1984)

Penso: dai, sono filastrocche per bambini, posso leggerle camminando. E finisce così, con i passanti che mi guardano sconcertati mentre io passo loro davanti, con il libro in mano e sghignazzando ad voce alta.
15 minuti di lettura davvero molto simpatica, con traduzione di Roberto Piumini. E scusate se è poco...

Tanto per rendere l'idea:

"Ma ce n'è ancora un'altra di schifezza:
finora io ne ho detta solo mezza,
giacché ai Francesi, perversione strana,
piace mangiare persino la Rana!
(Sì, forse è meglio prendere un catino,
voleste vomitare un pochettino...)" ( )

I liked the book Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl for three reasons. First, I liked the writing style of the book. The book was compiled of various poems all about animals. For example, “No animal is half as vile / As Crocky-Wock, the crocodile. / On Saturdays he likes to crunch / Six juicy children for his lunch.” The style of writing was well paced as it was written as a rhyme. The words flowed together smoothly while reading almost like listening to a song. There were no jumps or uneven patterns in the poem allowing for an overall smooth read. Second, I liked the language of the book. The language was descriptive and followed a clear pattern. For example, “Just three of each, three girls, three boys. / He smears the boys (to make them hot) / With mustard from the mustard pot.” The language used followed a pattern where the last word of each sentence rhymed with its previous sentence such as ‘hot’ and ‘pot’. The word choice was also descriptive such as “he smears the boys with mustard from the mustard pot.” This gives the readers a clear visual of what the text is saying as if they were there. Lastly, I liked the illustrations of the book. The illustrations enhanced the story and fit the written text as each poem had its own unique illustrations. For example, the silly poem called “The Crocodile” was about a hungry croc who likes to eat young boys and girls with pots of mustard. The illustration following this poem was of a crocodile with a young boy and girl surrounded by pots of mustard. The illustration was colorful, vibrant, and hand-drawn. It added an overall aesthetic appeal and an extra silly component to the poem. The big idea of this book was to be imaginative and creative, no matter how silly the idea. ( )

Classic Dahl kind of dark humor where animals turn classic tales on their heads by outsmarting their not-so-smart human counterparts. Maybe not great for young kids. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book for a few reasons. I liked Dahl’s use of rhyming throughout nearly all of his poems. His use of rhyming creates a sense of rhythm and flow to each story. In many of the poems it helps to create a sense of predictability. For example, “No animal is half as vile as Crocky-Wock, the crocodile.” I also liked how the illustrations enhanced each poem. The illustrations were drawn in a unique which helped to set the mood for each poem. The main idea of all of these poems revolves around mischievous animals. Although the poems are not directly connected, they all relate to this main idea. ( )

Dirty Beasts is a poem about a series of vile animals in Roald Dahls book Revolting Rhymes. I love Dahl's witty rhyming and play on words. Classroom extension ideas would be to have the students write a poem.