Why one children’s books editor turned down Roald Dahl titles | Letter

Sue Bradley on her conversation with the late Marni Hodgkin about the ‘malicious quality’ to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant PeachRe the letters criticising Roald Dahl’s works (Roald Dahl’s mean and nasty books don’t deserve all this attention, 23 February), in an oral history interview recorded for the British Library Sound Archive in 2002, the late great children’s books editor Marni Hodgkin told me that she had twice turned down both Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, once at Hart-Davis and again at Macmillan. “You may be amazed they were at liberty for publishers to snap up,” she said (I was). But the books had “a malicious quality” that she did not want to put her name to. “In that, I showed my very deficient business sense, but I have never regretted it,” she said.Sue BradleyCorbridge, Northumberland• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our Letters section. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-01 17:24:42 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Why one children’s books editor turned down Roald Dahl titles | Letter"


Survey: Have You Ever Read an Enhanced E-Book?

We asked our readers two years ago if they had read an enhanced ebook. Over half of survey respondents had not. Now, we're asking again. Take our survey and tell us if you've read an enhanced ebook. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Skidelsky to leave Observer

William Skidelsky, books editor at the Observer, is stepping down from his post, having taken... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


20 Percent of Americans Say They're Reading eBooks

One in five Americans say they've read an ebook in the last year, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. Those numbers come from a late January survey, they're up sharply from a December 2011 survey. Pew says the jump coincides with a jump in... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Dunmore on Orwell shortlist

Written By: Jenny Roper Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 08:58 Helen Dunmore's The Betrayal has made it onto the six-strong shortlist of the Orwell Prize for political writing, the first novel to be shortlisted since 2008. The list, whittled down from 213 titles by BBC Radio 4's Jim... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Penguin plans peachy Dahl celebration

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 15:15 James, Aunts Spiker and Sponge, as well as the Centi­pede, Ladybird and Earthworm will be celebrated this spring as Puffin publishes a 50th anniversary edition of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and launches a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this