Last children’s book by Roald Dahl to be republished with new illustrations
The new black-and-white edition of Billy and the Minpins has been illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake, who collaborated with Dahl for classics, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda.
There is good news for Roald Dahl fans! A picture book by the British writer is getting a makeover and will be republished on September 7.
Billy and the Minpins, originally published in 1991, is the last book to be written by Dahl. Its new edition has been illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake, who collaborated with Dahl for classics, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG.
“I was delighted to be asked to illustrate Roald’s Billy and the Minpins; it feels like the cornerstone in our long collaboration together. As Roald’s parting gift, Patrick Benson’s illustrations in the original edition were perfectly suited to the lyrical feel of The Minpins,” Hello Magazine quotes Sir Quentin Blake as saying. “This new edition has nearly fifty pages of black-and-white drawings, which meant I could enjoy myself tremendously as I went into all the details of Billy’s exploits and adventures with the Minpins in the mysterious forest!” Blake added.
Billy and the Minpins narrates the adventures of Billy who must save the small, tree-dwelling Minpins, whose children are the size of matchsticks, from the perennially hungry “terrible, galloping Gruncher”.
Luke Kelly, MD of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and Roald Dahl’s grandson, told The Bookseller, “We think it’s perfect as Billy is a quintessential Roald Dahl hero and deserves to be seen in the same light as Charlie, Matilda, James, Sophie and all the other child heroes readers around the world know and love.”
Billy and the Minpins is being published by Penguin Random House and will be out on September 7, ahead of Roald Dahl’s birthday on September 13. The previous edition, which featured coloured illustrations by Patrick Benson, is still available in print.
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