After many, many weeks spent on two books (Gone with the Wind and War and Peace), I felt the need to get a few short books under my belt to keep me on track for my target of having completed 50 of the Best 100 Reads by the end of 2013. On this quest, I spotted a few Roald Dahl books on the list, and decided that this would provide some quick reads as well as a bit of light relief. And so I found myself finishing The Twits within an hour or so. It's the story of a horrible couple (The Twits) who only have nasty thoughts, never seem to wash and the only thing they seem to get pleasure from is playing nasty tricks on each other - hiding worms in spaghetti is one of the classics! Worst of all, they keep a family of monkeys in a small cage in their back garden. They are not treated well, and Mr Twit is "training" them to stand on their heads all day, everyday, and do everything standing on their heads. His aim is to then offer them a s a circus act. The monkeys would love to escape and their chance comes in the form of an exotic African bird who has flown north for the summer. In cahoots with other birds in the area (all of whom would be on the menu if the Twits could catch them), they come up with a plan to not only escape, but pay the Twits back for all the horrible things they have done. Guess what - they come to a sticky end! This is a book that children of a certain disposition will love, and I can see how much fun it would be to read aloud to a small child. For an adult, it made me smirk a few times. It is a light read that whiles away an hour or so and, I suspect if you were read this by a parent in your childhood, rereading it as an adult might well bring back warm and comforting feelings. (By the way - still going with War and Peace).
My STAR rating: THREE.
Length: 87 print pages.
Price I paid: free - borrowed from my local library.
Formats available: Print, audio.
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