Roald Dahl's Beastly and Bewildering Words

Author: Woodward, Kay

Children's, young adult & educational

Published on 2 September 2021 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 64 pages
156 x 156 x 13 | 182g

Every child who loves Roald Dahl's stories knows all about the diabolical giants in Giant Country, how beastly Miss Trunchbull is and how unpleasant it would be to eat a slugburger, but have they spotted all the clever ways Roald Dahl uses language in his brilliant stories? Have they discovered how to write about animals and people in a way that makes their own stories wild? This little book brings together Roald Dahl's made up words as well as lots of real ones and gives ideas and techniques to inspire young writers. Children will discover onomatopoeic words like snort and snarl, metaphors and puns, how to blend words together to make their own new words and how animal vocabulary works for describing both people and creatures, as well as how names like the Bonecruncher and Mr Wormwood can tell us so much about the characters. Illustrated throughout with Quentin Blake's artwork, this book is part of a four-book set which, through the magic of Roald Dahl's writing, will help to build children's confidence with language while having mischievous fun!