Starting in July of 2021 a series of books has been banned across the United States. The majority of the banned books have featured POC characters and LGBTQIA+ topics. However,  recently, there has been a move by Penguin Random House to edit the books of beloved children's author Roald Dahl such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,Matilda and“James and the Giant Peach, so that they have more inclusive, less offensive language.

Hundreds of words, including descriptions of characters’ appearances, races and genders, have been changed or removed in at least 10 of the author’s books. Netflix acquired Dahl’s estate and all of his world in 2021 for $500 million. However, a review of the author’s works began in 2020, before they acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company. It is unclear as to how the profits of Dahl’s works are being divided and if his company is still making money off of the books or if all of the gain is going to Netflix. The movie “Matilda: The Musical” was just recently released on Netflix making around $32 million giving Dahl’s old work new recognition. 

In parts of his republished books they have begun editing characters so they are no longer described as “fat”, and references to “mothers” and “fathers” that have been updated to “parents” or “family”. The estate had partnered with Inclusive Minds, an organization that champions diversity and accessibility in children’s literature, who helped “provide valuable input when it comes to reviewing language that can be damaging and perpetuate harmful stereotypes.”

Dahl was outwardly anti-Semitic and his works were often criticized for being “antisocial, brutish and anti-feminist”, but that never stopped his books from being widely read and adapted into movies, so it’s peculiar that edits are starting to be made now, as his works are becoming less popular with the younger generations. Philip Pullman, author of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy says in an interview with BBC, “Let them fade away -- read better writers,” implying that re-releasing old books is taking away from new authors. Others, such as Matthew Dennison, who wrote a biography of Dahl, believe that he would not approve of this, as the author was known to have bad relationships with his editors and disliked anyone tampering with his work. 

Roald Dahl's legacy began when he published his first book “Gremlins” in 1943 and has continued to have a lasting effect on the publishing industry up until today. His recent controversy regarding the dated language in his books has sparked a movement to remove potentially harmful words, and with Netflix’s current involvement people are questioning the future of Dahl’s work in literature and film.  

Below, you can find a list of some of Roald Dahl’s most famous works.

• The Gremlins (1943)

• James and the Giant Peach (1961)

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

• The Magic Finger (1966)

• Fantastic Mr Fox (1970)

• The Twits (1980)

• The BFG (1982)

• The Witches (1983)

• Matilda (1988)