Sensitivity rewrites: the cultural purging of Roald Dahl

During his life, Dahl was also the subject of attention from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for language used in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The 1964 text originally described the Oompa-Loompas as African "pygmies". In sympathy with the NAACP, Dahl rewrote the text for the second US edition, turning the Oompa-Loompas into white dwarves with origins in fictional Loompaland.

Ironically enough, Dahl's agent convinced the author to change Charlie's identity, who was originally intended to be a black boy. The reason was crude but simple: making Charlie white would be more appealing to readers.

Amidst the protests against the latest rewrites and cuts, Penguin Random House, which owns Puffin Books, announced that it would publish the "classic" versions alongside the new editions, enabling readers "to choose which version of Dahl's stories they prefer." That's just what the children need.

Puffin Books should have already heeded the lessons of previous failed efforts to run rewritten texts for contemporary audiences. Efforts in 2010 to subject the Famous Five series of Enid Blyton to "sensitive text revisions" failed. These included alterations of "awful swotter" to "bookworm", and "tinker" with "traveller". The publisher Hachette had to concede in 2016 that the project had not worked.

This latest affair prompted a suggestion from Philip Pullman on Radio 4 on February 20. Let the passage of time judge the works, rather than the officials of the age. Eventually, they may go out of print, leaving room for other authors and their stories to enchant a new readership. In Dahl's case, that time is a considerable way off. A salient lesson, then, to avoid overly paid and ill-informed consultancies and respect children's stories.