Have two children who are Roald Dahl fans but neither of them were particularly keen on this particular book compared to his other books. She tells him of the Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers, Snozzwangers and Vermicious Knids (creatures first mentioned in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator) that live in the forest. When he comes to rest, he notices windows opening all over the branches, and discovers a whole city of little people, the Minpins, living inside the tree.

It was published in 1991, shortly after Dahl's death in November 1990, and is the author's final work of literature.I think I might be keen to see Dahl's estate put out a colour edition of this Blake edition of the Minpins.

The colour illustrations in the earlier version are cross-hatched and allow scenes to play out on a broad canvas. Dahl gifted readers some of literature’s most abiding and wonderful characters, from the lovable dream-whispering, word-mangling giant, the BFG, to magical Matilda, chocolate-maker extraordinaire Willy Wonka and many more.

He escapes what he is sure must be the Spittler by climbing up a tree as high and as fast as he can. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. I have to admit that sometimes the atmosphere in the Benson pictures obscures the actors in the story, and so it's hard to see Billy, the minpins and the birds when they are not brought into the foreground. Initially I was surprised that Blake would want to attempt the story, but when I purchased my copy of the book, I felt relieved that he adapted his style well the demands of the story. Occasionally the vignettes don't place themselves within a context, but we can still have an idea of the scene even when viewing these drawings.

Soon, Little Billy is walking through the forest when he hears something coming after him, and runs to escape it. Endlessly inventive and laugh-out- loud funny, Dahl’s stories reinvent the world for every new generation.He was a fighter pilot for the RAF during World War Two, and it was while writing about his experiences during this time that he started his career as an author. But upon learning of the close friendship between the Minpins and birds, Little Billy devises a plan to rid the forest of the Gruncher: Little Billy flies on the back of a swan and uses his scent to lure the Gruncher into a lake. Illustrated by Quentin Blake for the first time in 2017, Billy and the Minpins is a new interpretation of Roald Dahl’s very last story (originally published as ‘The Minpins’ in 1991) and marks nearly forty years of their magical collaboration.

The book was republished in 2017 under the title Billy and the Minpins with new illustrations by Dahl's primary illustrator, Quentin Blake.Little Billy is forbidden by his mother to do a lot of things, including entering the Forest of Sin behind his house. From his iconic illustrations of The BFG and Matilda to Mr Stink with birds and beasts of all shapes and sizes along the way, Roald Dahl’s favourite illustrator Quentin Blake has been making us smile for more than half a century.