My Problematic Favourites

Thoughts on Lynne Reid Banks and Roald Dahl

Holy hen’s teeth, there were two media mentions of children’s literature over the weekend (in UK papers and about British authors — a detail I mention for my majority Australian readership).

One was the obituary of Lynne Reid Banks, who has died at the age of 94. She was the author of the famous children’s book The Indian in the Cupboard, which I haven’t read, but perhaps even better known for the 1960 novel The L-Shaped Room, which I’d like to talk about in the context of problematic favourites.

The other mention involves a series of Roald Dahl follow-up novels by various British children’s authors and illustrators — more specifically an apology issued over an ableist slur in the marketing of one of them.