Vile Verses

by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is best remembered as the author of many well-loved children’s stories. But he was also the creator of some astonishingly imaginative, outrageous, and wonderfully disgusting verses. From oozing grobes to slimy slugs, this extraordinary collection is bursting with Dahl’s poems, verses, and songs. And with full-color original illustrations from a distinguished group of more than twenty artists, including Quentin Blake,William Joyce, and Lane Smith, this lavish volume is a must-have for any Dahl fan’s library.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Classics, Picture Books, Middle Grade

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Roald Dahl was a beloved British author, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot, best known for his enchanting and often darkly humorous children's books that have captivated generations of readers around the world. Born in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, Dahl led a life marked by adventure, tragedy, creativity, and enduring literary success. His vivid imagination and distinctive storytelling style have made him one of the most celebrated children's authors in modern literature.
Before becoming a writer, Dahl lived a life filled with excitement and hardship. He served as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II, surviving a near-fatal crash in the Libyan desert. His wartime experiences and travels deeply influenced his storytelling, often infusing his works with a sense of danger, resilience, and the triumph of the underdog. After the war, he began writing for both adults and children, showing a rare versatility that spanned genres and age groups.
Dahl's children's books are known for their playful use of language, unforgettable characters, and a deep sense of justice, often pitting clever children against cruel or foolish adults. Some of his most iconic titles include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr Fox, and The Witches. These works are filled with fantastical elements and moral undertones, empowering young readers to challenge authority, think independently, and believe in the impossible.
Equally acclaimed for his work for adults, Dahl wrote numerous short stories characterized by their macabre twists and dark humor. His stories were frequently published in magazines such as The New Yorker and later compiled into bestselling collections like Someone Like You and Kiss Kiss. He also wrote screenplays, including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice and the adaptation of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Despite his literary success, Dahl was a complex and sometimes controversial figure, known for his strong opinions and difficult personality. Nonetheless, his books continue to be treasured for their wit, originality, and the sense of wonder they inspire. Many of his stories have been adapted into successful films, stage plays, and television specials, further cementing his legacy.
Dahl's impact on children's literature is immeasurable. His ability to connect with young readers through a mix of irreverence, heart, and imagination has made his stories timeless. Even after his death, his books remain in print and continue to be read by millions of children worldwide. His writing not only entertains but also encourages curiosity, courage, and compassion.
Roald Dahl's work lives on as a testament to the power of storytelling and the magic of a truly original voice. He remains a towering figure in literature whose creations continue to spark joy, mischief, and inspiration across generations.

Reviews

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

These verses aren't especially vile, but the title is fun to say. Vvvvile Vvvverses. It's even more fun if you say it in your best Elmer Fudd imitation.

Most of the poems are from Dahl's novels and earlier poetry collections, but there are a few previously unpublished ones. When you read those, you'll understand why they were previously unpublished. The ones he wrote as a schoolboy are interesting because they show he had the droll morbidity even as a youngster. He must not have been a very good sport as a boy, though. He wrote an entire Ballade Against Umpires, devoted to the refrain "I think all umpires should be shot at dawn!"

What really shines in this collection is the artwork. Such a treat! They decided to let about two dozen artists try their hands at illustrating Dahl's poems, so there's a great variety of styles and interpretations. Big fun for the eyeballs.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verses for young and not so young alike 😃

[Carla Espinosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

habemus tfg!!!!!!!!

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021

I never did though. Someone wasn't really all that fond of poetry

***

2005

I must get this edition for the PandaBat

[David Choquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

One little boy gets eaten by a shark. One gets punctured by a hundred porcupine spines. A little girl swallows a whole bottle of laxatives and spends the rest of her days in the W.C. The children in Roald Dahl’s “Vile Verses” do not lead the simple, idyllic lives of those in Mother Goose or Robert Louis Stevenson. They get mashed, mangled and munched more often than not. Through his long and illustrious career, Roald Dahl pushed the limit of how irreverently silly a children’s book can be. And most of his novels include at least one poem somewhere within the story. Fifteen years after his death, his publisher collected these poems into one volume, along with a few previously unpublished gems. Quentin Blake, Dahl’s long-time illustrator, led a team of artists in creating lavish new depictions of these silly and sordid tales. Each poem is drawn by a different artist, giving this compilation surprising richness, even for those already familiar with the stories. Willy Wonka makes an appearance, as well as Matilda and James of Giant Peach fame. Traditional fairy tale characters are here too, with a Roald Dahl twist. Goldilocks gets ten years in the slammer for breaking and entering, and Snow White uses the all-seeing magic mirror to score big at the horse races.
This book begs to be read to young children, who will enjoy the sheer grossness, and will want to pore over the pictures. Teachers could use any one of these poems to teach rhyme scheme or rhythm. Older students will enjoy remembering characters from Dahl’s other works, and discovering new ones. Many schoolchildren, boys especially, will appreciate that not one of Dahl’s poems is pastoral or pretty. These are the kind of poems that children like to write for themselves, if only they know it’s allowed!

[Cierra Garrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because of the author. Growing up I loved all Ronald Dahl books, so I figured I would more than likely love his poetry as well, I was right. I especially loved his take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, calling Goldilocks such things as "thieving little louse" and "little beast" cracked me up. I'd never seen such a different spin on such a well known story.These poems could probably be used in up to a 4th grade classroom. If I was doing a lesson with this poem book, I would split the class into groups and assign one poem to each of the groups. The great thing about this poem book is that it has some well known stories such as Charlie and the Chocolate factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox, which will help the students be more comfortable and familiar with the selections. Once split into groups and assigned poems, I would have the groups pick out all of the figurative language they could find, and then tell me what they thought it actually meant. For example: To gorge and guzzle, feed and feast is what type of figurative language? It could be and onomatopoeia or alliteration. The funny words in all these poems will make classifying what types of figurative language they possess fun. This would be a good activity to do at the very beginning of a unit on poetry.

[Lottie Defriend · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of poems and songs whose themes are taken from different stories written by Roald Dahl, and each illustrated by different illustrators.
One of my favourite poems from this collection is 'Concerning Mike Teavee' as it talks about the amount of time children spend watching tv, and how instead they should get rid of them and read books.

I like how the book has a variety of poems taken from different stories as it is likely that children will at least know one of the stories which they can interact with.

The has different sections including one called 'Altogether now', a teacher could use these in their classroom to sing together.

The poems are all very easy to read.

[Molli Hobgood]

Roald Dahl is the creator of many different books and took part in creating some of children's favorite stories like Matilda and Willy Wonka. While this book is a collection of many different poems, songs and short stories, they all have one thing in common, the vile subject matter. They discuss disgusting gooey slugs and gloopy things too. But what really is the best part of the book in my opinion is the illustrations. There are many different illustrators involved with the book so it never gets boring or even predictable. I believe you could use some of the poems in the book to teach lessons of some sort.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection consists of poems taken from various novels that Dahl has written plus some unpublished poems and poems that appeared only in American editions of his books. The unpublished poems, written in his childhood, were certainly not in the style in which he later wrote and not, in my opinion, as good. My favorite were the poems based on fairy tales, the poems from The Witches ("Down Vith Children!"), and "The Grobes". The illustrations were by various artists, most of whom interpreted Dahl's poems well. Recommended for fans of Roald Dahl or for fans of silly poetry.

[Dree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is largely made up of excerpts from his other books (James and the Giant Peach seems over represented). But there are also some previously unpublished gems in here. There are also a few that he wrote while in school--which are definitely not as good, and a little over the top. Makes me wonder how old he actually was!

So, I thought this was so-so, but my 8-year-old LOVED it. He has been reading a lot of Roald Dahl in the last 6 months, on top of what I have read to him, so he recognized more of these than I did. And some of the new ones I had to read over and over...

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quentin Blake has gathered together many of Roald Dahl's verses and poetry, both from beloved and well-known novels and from unpublished works and paired them with many talented illustrators in this collection of Vile Verses. Dahl's undersanding of language and of kids is genius, and I love how he always pushes the envelope of what is appropriate in such a delightful way. My favorite in the collection is the Goldilocks and the Three Bears, which turns on it's head our conventional understanding of the responsible party in the classic tale.

[Caitlin Thorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Vile Verse
Author: Roald Dahl
Rating: 3/5
Paragraph #1: I liked the book. I liked the book because it poetry stuff from books I have read by Roald Dahl.
Paragraph #2: My favorite Part/Story was A Nobleman Visiting Courts, because he had funny boots on you should see what he wears when he is hunting.
My least favorite part/story was Mister Unsworth, because he would twist off one ear on each kid in his class.
I recommend this book to people who like poetry.

[Kassyreadsalot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Roald Dahl and when I saw this book I had to pick it up! This contained excerpts from his other books and some unpublished poetry. I really enjoyed looking at the illustrations that were made by many different people. I could never get bored of reading from Roald Dahl and I wish he was still alive to write more books but that isn't the case. If you enjoyed Roald Dahl's books you will enjoy this one!

[Branden Tussing · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I read this in about 4 days at bed time. He came away from it wondering what animals actually eat people. I came away from it with minor concern for the children who grew up with Mr. Dhal. Fiendishly clever, extremely morbid cautionary tales. I would expect that he's probably the time of guy who would run the most terrifying sex ed class ever. We ended the story a little scared but we kind of like that.

[Kile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of rhymes and verses extracted from Roald Dahl's books. In the same vein as a Shel Silverstien collection. I had a blast reading this to my daughters. Lots of irreverent humor that you would expect from the author and great illustrations to accompany the words. Stand out poems include one about a dull kid that his nurse shapes into a fine politician, and one about a kid poisoning his grandma.

[Danielle Routh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest: I checked this out because I thought it was a collection of Dahl's writings for adults. Instead, it's various poems from his books for children plus previously unpublished verses. Dahl is a master of poetry--better than Seuss, I would say--although the verses separated from their respective books did seem to lose some charm as a result. Reading the previously unpublished poems was fun, though.

[Ella Pyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this book as a child, and enjoying it, i decidied to go back to it this year, and see if i could get any more out of it. And i most certainly did. Reading and laughing over this book brought back so many memories, and the poems are brilliant. I really recommend this book for anyone of any age.

[Nicola Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really fun poems in here that remind me a lot of Hilaire Belloc. Many come from already published books but there are some new ones among them. It helps to have a British accent when reading.

[Ashley Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Roald Dahl but had no idea this book of poetry existed. I picked it up because on first glance it appeared to resemble Shel Silverstein poetry and it actually did quite a bit. Some of the poems were a bit longer and bored the kiddos but I thought they were awesome.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book for kids! So imaginative and creative. Easy read that children will find delightful!

Roald Dahl is always brilliant! His stories and rhymes are fun and entertaining! Some of my all time favorites!! Such a great way to entertain children and get them interested in reading!

[Isaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Roald Dahl humour. Some of these songs and verses come from other books of his (such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and so on), but others were previously unpublished.
If you like Roald Dahl, it's definitely worth a read

[Jaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book I recommend it to anyone who loves Rahld Dahl and loves a good sing song. It will have you singing at the top of your voice in the middle of the night. It is a really cheat full book and I personally loved it.

[Cheyenne]

I love Roald Dahl's books and I think his poems are equally enjoyable. These poems and illustrations work magically together to create an delight for all ages. I would have this available for my students to read during read to self and who also be a fun book to introduce students to poetry.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of all Roald Dahl's poetry from his books and unpublished little poems. There are plenty of fun little rhymes to remember who Dahl is so beloved. A nice introduction to his work for small kids.

[Alexis Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the author of this book, which is why I picked it. These corky poems are really engaging and are a fun way to introduce poetry in a classroom. The illustrations are typical Roald Dahl which one enhances the verses.

[Joenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic poems for kids!

[tootie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another genious and a wonderful author who both adults and children can enjoy. A warped sense of humor is such a gift!

[sarafem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roald Dahl's children's poetry puts Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky to shame.

[Barb Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very cleverly done and fun! Dahl has a slightly twisted and very funny dark side to his poems.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun!