Penguin to Publish ‘Classic’ Roald Dahl Books after Backlash

A cake decorated in the style of the Roald Dahl children's book "Matilda" is displayed at the Cake and Bake show in London, Britain October 3, 2015. (Reuters)
A cake decorated in the style of the Roald Dahl children's book "Matilda" is displayed at the Cake and Bake show in London, Britain October 3, 2015. (Reuters)
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Penguin to Publish ‘Classic’ Roald Dahl Books after Backlash

A cake decorated in the style of the Roald Dahl children's book "Matilda" is displayed at the Cake and Bake show in London, Britain October 3, 2015. (Reuters)
A cake decorated in the style of the Roald Dahl children's book "Matilda" is displayed at the Cake and Bake show in London, Britain October 3, 2015. (Reuters)

Publisher Penguin Random House announced Friday it will publish “classic” unexpurgated versions of Roald Dahl’s children’s novels after it received criticism for cuts and rewrites that were intended to make the books suitable for modern readers.

Along with the new editions, the company said 17 of Dahl’s books would be published in their original form later this year as “The Roald Dahl Classic Collection” so “readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer.”

The move comes after criticism of scores of changes made to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and other much-loved classics for recent editions published under the company’s Puffin children’s label, in which passages relating to weight, mental health, gender and race were altered.

Augustus Gloop, Charlie’s gluttonous antagonist in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” — originally published in 1964 — became “enormous” rather than “enormously fat.” In “Witches,” an “old hag” became an “old crow,” and a supernatural female posing as an ordinary woman may be a “top scientist or running a business” instead of a “cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman.”

In “Fantastic Mr. Fox," the word “black” was removed from a description of the “murderous, brutal-looking” tractors.

The Roald Dahl Story Company, which controls the rights to the books, said it had worked with Puffin to review and revise the texts because it wanted to ensure that “Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today.”

While tweaking old books for modern sensibilities is not a new phenomenon in publishing, the scale of the edits drew strong criticism from free-speech groups such as writers’ organization PEN America.

PEN America chief executive Suzanne Nossel wrote on Twitter: “I applaud Penguin for hearing out critics, taking the time to rethink this, and coming to the right place.”

Camilla, Britain's queen consort, appeared to offer her view at a literary reception on Thursday. She urged writers to “remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination.”

Dahl’s books, with their mischievous children, strange beasts and often beastly adults, have sold more than 300 million copies and continue to be read by children around the world. Their multiple stage and screen adaptations include “Matilda the Musical” and two “Willy Wonka” films based on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” with a third in the works.

But Dahl, who died in 1990, is also a controversial figure because of antisemitic comments made throughout his life. His family apologized in 2020.

In 2021, Dahl's estate sold the rights to the books to Netflix, which plans to produce a new generation of films based on the stories.

Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, said the publisher had “listened to the debate over the past week which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl’s books and the very real questions around how stories from another era can be kept relevant for each new generation.”

“Roald Dahl’s fantastic books are often the first stories young children will read independently, and taking care for the imaginations and fast-developing minds of young readers is both a privilege and a responsibility," she said.

“We also recognize the importance of keeping Dahl’s classic texts in print,” Dow said. “By making both Puffin and Penguin versions available, we are offering readers the choice to decide how they experience Roald Dahl’s magical, marvelous stories.”



Tea-Loving Nepal Is Warming up to Coffee 

An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
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Tea-Loving Nepal Is Warming up to Coffee 

An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)

Coffee hasn't always been an easy sell in Nepal.

The Himalayan country is a major tea producer, as well as a major consumer. When people greet each other in the morning, they don't ask “how are you.” They say “have you had your tea?”

Tea — usually served with as a sweet, milky beverage in a piping hot glass tumbler — is as much a part of Nepal's culture as rice, a constant presence at homes, meetings and social gatherings.

But a growing number of Nepalis are warming up to coffee, as trendy cafes spring up street corners in cities and towns across the country.

Nepalis started trying coffee in the 90s. One cafe in the capital, Kathmandu, is widely seen as the pioneer.

Gagan Pradhan began Himalayan Java as a single cafe in an alley, and it's grown to a chain with 84 locations in the country. Pradhan estimates there around 7,000 cafes across the country, although so far international brands like Starbucks aren't in Nepal.

“There are lot of tea shops throughout the nation, but the kind of set up they have is still kind of old fashioned,” Pradhan said. “I think with investors and people like us, when it comes to coffee shop we are more serious not only with machines, we are serious with everything like the lighting, the set up, the furnishings, the location.”

Pradhan said tea shops usually offer just black tea or tea with milk, whereas a typical coffee menu has 10-15 hot beverages and about 10-15 cold beverages, he said.

Pradhan said it’s an appealing business because the initial investment to open a cafe is very low, they’re clean and simple enough for a single family to run, and customers are willing to pay more for coffee.

Several of eastern Nepal’s tea plantations in the mountains of east Nepal, famous for the tea, are joined by coffee plantations now.

Coffee is expensive, but it's a lifestyle Nepal is part of a regional trend. Coffee consumption has soared across traditionally tea-drinking countries in Asia as members of growing middle classes seek out novel flavors and adopt international trends.

Coffee is a premium drink in Nepal: it costs about $2 at Himalayan Java, which is enough to buy a meal at a local cafe in Kathmandu, or five cups of tea. Still, cafes bustle with office workers on breaks and students looking for places to study.

“I think the idea of drinking coffee (in Nepal) was first triggered with people thinking it would elevate their standard of living, but then once they tasted coffee many people just liked it and continued to drink it,” said Deep Singh Bandari, a social worker who is a regular visitor to the coffee cafes.

Nepal is starting to produce coffee too. Most of the coffee drunk in Nepal is imported, but in the country's famous eastern tea-growing regions coffee plantations are springing up.

According to Nepal’s National Tea and Coffee Development Board, about 400 tons of coffee was produced in fiscal year 2021-22, the most recent for which data is available. That's a drop in the percolator compared to the 26,000 tons of tea produced the same year, but the board predicts rapid growth.

“Both young and old people in Nepal just love coffee, and the number of coffee drinkers is growing every day. This trend is just going to grow,” said Pradhan.