SYNOPSIS

Two unsavory characters, a husband and wife, play nasty tricks on each other for sport.

They train a family of caged monkeys to stand on their heads of hours for a future entertainment bit.

They also trap wild birds with glue to cook them into pie every Wednesday. Until…

…one day the dad monkey decides he has had enough of the training and the bird cruelty, and pulls off the cleverest trick on the inhumane human pair.

It ain’t happy ending for the Twits but the monkey family and all wild birds of the world have been saved.

PERFECT AGE 7 – 14

THEMES

• Animals are clever, sensitive, and empathetic
• Working together for a common goal
• Ingenuity can be wonderfully great and woefully harmful

We love

• As with all Roald Dahl books, this story is a mix of great entertainment, dose of absurdity, and takehome moral
• There are many gross moments, and no one spares you the gory details – but the writing is so masterful that even the yuck is enjoyable
• The Twits met their match – and literally disappeared off the face of the earth
• Quentin Blake’s illustrations – it’s not a real Dahl book without them, right??

WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):

• Well, it was written in 1979, so…
• The book describes gruesome moments in some detail – like three boys getting glued onto the Twits’ tree overnight and being threatened by Mr. Twit with being cooked into pie
• The practical jokes between the Twits are cruel and can give mischievous youngsters ideas…worms in your spaghetti, anyone?
• Have the reflections and conversations around the unsavory parts – but read you must! It’s a Roald Dahl gem.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• How did Mr. Twit manage to convince Mrs. Twit that she was shrinking?
• Why did Mugglewump decide to save the birds?
• What did the author mean when he said that “a person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly”?
• Have you ever played a prank on someone? How did it go and how did you feel afterwards?