Michael Rosen wouldn’t use the words “fat” and “ugly” in children’s stories. And the author is pleased the Oompa Loompas from the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have had a makeover too.
“I wouldn’t use fat or ugly in my work, and if someone told me to change some bad language in something I wrote in my thirties or forties, I’d probably say, ‘Sure’,” says the 76-year-old former children’s laureate. “Tastes change. Dahl himself changed the Oompa Loompas, who were originally little black people from the jungle. The NAACP [the prominent American civil rights group] protested and he made them fantasy creatures.”
The row about Dahl’s stories being revised for modern audiences made headlines around the world this week. After a sensitivity
