Introduction

On Choice of Author
Hunt observed that literary greats such as “Hofland, Edgeworth, Day and Barbauld—whose books, it may be argued, were once children’s literature though have now ceased to be so” (22). Changes in linguistic conventions or alterations in the lifestyles might have caused the plots and themes of earlier works to be inaccessible or irrelevant to contemporary children. Regardless the reasons, most pertinent to the ensuing discussion, Hunt’s observation suggest a certain degree of fluidity in the canon of contemporary children’s literature. In such a context, good representatives of contemporary children’s literature would be books which appeal to children. Using the popularity of his literary works as a gauge, Roald Dahl’s texts have been chosen as examples of children’s literature which resemble the world in which the readers are situated, in order that the discussion of social issues in children’s literature could be facilitated.