ROALD DAHL WORDS

Dahl’s classics—featuring Blake’s labeled illustrations—are revisited for a vocabulary lesson aimed at the very young.

Several of Dahl and Blake’s collaborative works are referenced here, from The Twits (1980) to Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970) and Esio Trot (1990). Blake’s illustrations are the highlight and focus, as truly this is just a book of labeled illustrations. The text does pose some questions (“How many balloons can you count?” “Can you spot all 5 chickens?”), but these types of inviting inquiries don’t appear on every page. Instead of rich, unusual vocabulary, we see a retread of toddler familiars like chicken, girl, man, and bird. The illustrations do provide plenty to observe along with some silliness, like a toilet and sink crash-banging out of a second-floor window. These images are more relevant with context from the original texts but can still be interesting to those who are too young to be aware of those classics. But overall, this title is really intended to appeal to adults who grew up on Dahl’s books and are eager to introduce those stories to a new generation. The book rests on Blake’s iconic images rather than offering meaningful purpose or integration with the text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pass on this one for other more successful titles in this line of board books based on Dahl's stories.