By Tessa Nolan
Greg James has penned a spin-off of The Twits with Chris Smith, while a collection of stories “Charlie and the Christmas Factory” is set to be published in October. The Twits and Matilda are among Roald Dahl’s most beloved characters, who will be featured in brand new stories inspired by the works of the late British author that are set to be published later this year.
The stories written by Greg James, Adam Kay, and Konnie Huq are set to capture the “unique sense of extraordinary, magical, and mischievous” Dahl, said Ruth Knowles, director of Puffin Publishing.
James and Chris Smith are co-authors of The Twits spin-off titled The Twits Next Door, illustrated by Emily Jones, which will be published in August. When Lovelies move in next door to Mr. and Mrs. Twit, the Twits try to get rid of their “horribly nice” new neighbors.
“Offering the opportunity to write a story with the most disgusting and hilarious pair of his famous characters was thrilling, a little scary, and, of course, too good to resist,” said James and Smith. “We had a great time playing with The Twits, and we enjoyed expanding their world and introducing them to new characters.”
Meanwhile, a festive collection of “Charlie and the Christmas Factory” is planned for October, consisting of 12 stories based on Dahl’s beloved characters by the collection’s authors. Among them are Huq, Kay, Adam Hills, Ben Bailey-Smith, Elle McNicoll, Sibéal Pounder, and Nadia Shireen, among others.
In McNicoll’s story, Matilda worries about making the naughty list, while Pounder looks at how Charlie plans to celebrate Christmas at the chocolate factory. In Kay’s tale, set years after the creation of George’s Marvellous Medicine, his granddaughter Gigi decides to make her own potion.
“We were so impressed by the brilliant ability of the authors to capture the unique spirit of Roald Dahl’s story and tell us some amazingly funny stories from their own imaginations,” said Harriet Murphy, director of the Roald Dahl Story Company. “Roald Dahl’s stories are some of the greatest children’s books, but we don’t want to mimic him. Instead, we wanted the authors to have fun and use their own voices to turn his unusual characters and creations into new stories that can delight both existing fans and new readers.”
The collection will be illustrated by Rikin Parekh. “Of course, I firmly believe in the magic that is created when words and illustrations perfectly come together,” he said. “And no combination is as magical as the combination of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake.”