Over the course of lockdown I’ve been keeping myself sane by running a series of World Cups on Twitter covering children’s books, kid’s TV and now the characters of Roald Dahl. Golden tickets at the ready… Beginning today, the most giganticus twitter poll yet. The #WorldCupofRoaldDahl! 64 characters from 16 books compete to win the … Continue reading
Roald Dahl used to talk with some pride about what he called his ‘child power’. He couldn’t move objects with his mind like Matilda or wave a vengeful magic finger, no. What he believed he could do, according to biographer Jeremy Treglown, was ‘walk into any house in Europe or the USA and if there … Continue reading
Some of the great characters from children’s literature take the Hare PCL-R test for psychopathy. Think of villains like Lord Voldemort, Miss Slighcarp, the Twits – extreme psychopaths. But what of the heroes? Psychopaths aren’t necessarily sadistic murderers, they can be people in positions of power: surgeons, politicians, CEOs of chocolate factories… Continue reading
