Back الحمقى (رواية) Arabic ذا تويتس ARZ Els Culdolla Catalan Prevítovi Czech Y Twits Welsh Die Zwicks stehen Kopf German Los Cretinos Spanish Les Deux Gredins French Na Gamail Irish Gli Sporcelli Italian
 Second edition | |
| Author | Roald Dahl |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Quentin Blake |
| Cover artist | Quentin Blake |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape (United Kingdom) |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback, paperback) |
| Pages | 87 |
The Twits is a 1980 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was first published by Jonathan Cape. The story features The Twits (Mr. and Mrs. Twit), a spiteful, idle, unkempt couple who continuously play nasty practical jokes on each other to amuse themselves, and exercise their devious wickedness on their pet monkeys.
Dahl's disgust at beards was the inspiration for Mr. Twit. As he stated, he penned The Twits in an effort to "do something against beards".[1] His biographer, fellow children's author Michael Rosen, recalls the first time the pair met, Dahl leant across to Rosen's son Joe and said of his father's beard: "It's probably got this morning's breakfast in it. And last night's dinner. And old bits of rubbish, any old stuff that he's come across. You might even find a bicycle wheel in it".[1]
In 2003, The Twits was listed at number 81 in The Big Read, a BBC survey of the British public of the top 200 novels of all time.[2] In 2012, the titular Twits appeared on a Royal Mail commemorative postage stamp.[3] In 2023, the novel was ranked by BBC at no. 87 in their poll of "The 100 greatest children's books of all time".[4] The Twits was adapted for the stage in 2007 and an animated film adaptation, directed by Phil Johnston, is scheduled for release in 2025 on Netflix.[5][6]
Penguin Books has released the book in audiobook form twice, in 2001 read by Simon Callow and in 2023 read by Richard Ayoade.
- ^ a b "10 Roald Dahl moments to inspire generations". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ "The Big Read – Top 100 Books". BBC. Retrieved 16 September 2014. First of two pages. Archived 2 September 2014 by the publisher.
Charles Dickens and Terry Pratchett led with five of the Top 100. The four extant Harry Potter novels all made the Top 25. The Dahl novels were Charlie, The BFG, Matilda, and The Twits. - ^ Flood, Alison (9 January 2012). "Roald Dahl stamps honour classic children's author". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ "The 100 greatest children's books of all time". bbc.com. 23 May 2023.
- ^ Ntim, Zac (18 September 2023). "'The Twits': Animated Feature Adaptation Of Roald Dahl Book Set At Netflix, First Look Revealed". Deadline. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ "The Twits hit Lancaster!". BBC. Retrieved 3 June 2012.