Take a pinch of unease. Stir it into a large dollop of the macabre, add a generous helping of dark and stylish wit, garnish with the bizarre and what do you have? Roald Dahl at his brilliant, hypnotizing best, cooking up some of the most unusual stories ever told. Here in one volume are Tales of the Unexpected and More Tales of the Unexpected, making this a superb compendium of vengeance, surprise and dark delight.
To identify: Standard practice statement (‘Published in Great Britain’ followed by the date, no later dates or printing statements) above listing of previous publication copyright credits with jacket priced at £15.99
Lust read by Derek Jacobi, Gillian Anderson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Mark Heap, and Richard E Grant
Description
This collection brings together Dahl’s finest work, illustrating his genius for the horrific and grotesque which is unparalleled.
“Dahl has the mastery of plot and characters possessed by great writers of the past, along with a wildness and wryness of his own. One of his trademarks is writing beautifully about the ugly, even the horrible.”–Los Angeles Times
“An ingenious imagination, a fascination with odd and ordinary detail, and a lust for its thorough exploitation are the…strengths of Dahl’s storytelling.”–New York Times Book Review
To identify: Standard practice statement (‘Published in Great Britain’ followed by the date, no later dates or printing statements), with jacket priced £11.95 & $22.95
Alfred Knopf, 1989, USA.
To identify: First Edition statement, with jacket priced $18.95
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life is a collection of seven hilariously creepy Roald Dahl stories published in various magazines and collections in the ’40s and ’50s, and gathered here for the first time. With the classic Dahl mixture of charm and charmingly perverse, these stories remind us that the mystery of life isn’t always as sweet as it seems.
To identify: Used a standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published with a dust jacket priced at £7.95.
Viking, 1990, USA.
Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
To identify: Used a number line and published with a dust jacket priced at $14.95.
Rhyme Stew read by Derek Griffiths and Julie Dawn Cole
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
A collection of ribald rhymes featuring characters from fairy tales,fables and nursery rhymes, as you’ve never seen them before! From the tortoise and the hare and Hansel and Gretel to Ali Baba and Aladdin, these traditional stories will never seem the same again once you have had a taste of Roald Dahl’s hilarious verse and Quentin Blake’s suitably lively illustrations.
To identify: Used a standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published without a dust jacket and priced at £3.95
Knopf, 1983, USA.
Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
To identify: Used a number line and was published with a dust jacket priced at $9.95.
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
Did you think Cinderella married the prince and lived happily ever after, or that the three little pigs outsmarted the wolf? Think again! Master storyteller Roald Dahl adds his own darkly comic twists to six favorite tales, complete with rambunctious rhymes and hilarious surprise endings.
Reviews
“Nursery Satire” by Ralph Elliott from the August 28, 1982 issue of The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. Simplified story texts are combined with beautiful original illustrations for students aged 7 and above.
Penguin, 2024
Afrikaans Covers – Vreeslike versies
Proteaboekhuis, 2000
Dutch Covers – Gruwelijke rijmen
Uitgeverij De Fontein, 2017
French Covers – Un conte peut en cacher un autre
Gallimard
Gallimard, 2003
Gallimard, 2012
Gallimard, 2014
Japanese Covers – へそまがり昔ばなし
Korean Covers
Baeteul, 2010
Norwegian Covers – Ramperim og ville vers
Spanish Covers – Cuentos en verso para niños perversos
To identify: Used standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published without a dust jacket and no pricing
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1983, USA.
Illustrated by: Rosemary Fawcett
To identify: Used a First Edition statement and a jacket priced at $11.95
Later editions:
Jonathan Cape, 1984, UK.
Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
To identify: Lists both prior printings of Fawcett illustrations and then the statement ‘This edition with new illustrations published 1984’
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
Roald Dahl’s inimitable style and humor shine in this collection of poems about mischievous and mysterious animals. From Stingaling the scorpion to Crocky-Wock the crocodile, Dahl’s animals are nothing short of ridiculous. A clever pig with an unmentionable plan to save his own bacon and an anteater with an unusually large appetite are among the characters created by Dahl in these timeless rhymes. This new, larger edition is perfect for reading aloud and makes Quentin Blake’s celebrated illustrations even more enjoyable.
Reviews
“Picture books to treasure” by Laurie Copping from the March 16, 1985 issue of The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
Note: This book is also referred to as Sometime Never in the UK.
First editions:
Charles Scribner & Son, 1948, USA.
To identify: Used the standard single statement with the usual ‘A’ below and published with a dust jacket priced at $2.75.
Collins, 1949, UK.
To identify: Used a standard single statement (copyright statement with date below, no later dates or printing statements indicated) and published with a dust jacket priced at 8s 6d.
Some Time Never was published in the United States in 1948 by Scribner’s, and in England a year later by Collins. There’s no easy way to put this: the book was a total flop. It was almost an adult version of the Gremlins story, beginning with the Battle of Britain and continuing on to the end of the world. Despite its utter failure, the book is remarkable for being the first book about nuclear war to be published in the United States after Hiroshima.
Reviews
“Survivors of World War IV” by Bergen Evans published in April 3, 1948 issue of The Saturday Review (read online)
To identify: Used a standard single statement (‘First published’ followed by the date with later printings stated underneath) and published with a dust jacket priced at £5.50.
Knopf, 1980, USA.
To identify: Used a standard ‘First Edition’ statement and published with a dust jacket priced at $8.95.
Trivia:
Occasionally referred to as Dahl’s “first” novel (even by the author), despite Some Time Never‘s publication 30 years earlier.
Connections:
Features same protagonist as “B***h” and “The Visitor,” noted lover Oswald Cornelius
The nameless narrator has revealed snippets of the lovable, lascivious Uncle Oswald’s life in other collections, but this is the only novel – brief though it is – dedicated solely to the diaries of “the greatest fornicator of all time.” Inspired by stories of the aphrodisiac powers of the Sudanese blister beetle, the palpable seductiveness of the lovely Yasmin Howcomely, and the scientific know-how of Professor A. R. Woresley, Uncle Oswald anticipates the concept of the Nobel sperm bank by some 40 years, flimflamming crowned heads, great artists, and eccentric geniuses into making “donations.” The life of a commercial sperm broker has a few surprises even for a sophisticated bon vivant, and Dahl manages his signature sting-in-the-tail ending even in one of his lightest comic works.
Reviews
“Satire and Sensitivity” by Marion Halligan from the May 24, 1980 issue of The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
“Offbeat biographies” by Lyn Frost from the March 1, 1981 issue of The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
“Crime and Passion” review column by Darcy O’Brien from the April 21, 1980 issue of New York Magazine (read online)
Fun Stuff
Tearsheet (Poster) by American illustrator Mel Odom
