[3mummy3]

My dd aged 8 borrowed the Roald Dahl book revolting rhymes from the local library. My 13 yo ds was just flicking through and told me i shouldnt be letting dd read that because there was a foul word in it. It is in the cinderella story, the line is:
The prince cried, 'Who's this dirty s*ut?
Off with her nut! Off with her nut!'.

I know the whole story is a bit gross about chopping peoples heads off etc and it is supposed to be a bit of dark humour but i am seriously shocked that such a word is used in a childrens book. For those that dont know the book, it is a picture book with 'revoltingly funny' rhymes of popular childrens tales like snow white, goldilocks, jack and the beanstock etc.

So would you/have you let your kids read this or should i send it straight back to the library?

[WibbleWobble]

I would let her read it and explain that the meaning for s*ut has changed over time and explain what it meant when the book was written.

[cinnabubble]

The traditional meaning for s*ut is a slovenly woman. It wasn't sexual.

[RobotFerretOfDoo...]

What Wibble Wobble said.

To be honest I was expecting something much worse. I remember reading this book as a kid and being completely unfazed by the word.

[niggles]

I would encourage her to read it and doscover the richness of the English language. A s*ut is just a word for a poor housekeeper. Would an 8 year old know any other meaning?

[bakesgirls]

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest, for the reasons PPs have stated.

[*Greenbag*]

I actually think Roald Dahl was a bit of a misogynist. I loved his books as a kid but I find something creepy about them as an adult.

The word 's*ut' wouldn't bother me in that context, once you explain what it meant to the author. I remember getting a kick out of reading the rude words from the dictionary or the stuff about sex in the bible. I turned out normal. Sort of.

[Chelli]

I know the word meant something different back then, but I would've been shocked to read it in a children's book.

[halfagonyhalfhop...]

We love revolting rhymes in our house!
It wouldn't worry me - I would just explain it in context, and explain that it is not a very polite word, and I would rather they didn't use it.

[Livsh]

It's Roald Dahl, it had a different meaning and it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.