European publishers said they will not make changes to Roald Dahl's books, arguing that his stories will "lose all their power" after a U.K. publishing company revealed it had rewritten some of the late author's work to remove potentially offensive language.
Puffin Books, which published Dahl's classic works, hired sensitivity readers to update portions of the author's wording in the U.K. editions to ensure the books "can continue to be enjoyed by all today." The edits include new gender-neutral language and altered descriptions of certain physical appearances and were reportedly approved by Dahl's estate.
In one example, the word "fat" has been replaced with "enormous" in reference to Augustus Gloop, the chubby character featured in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
The late author's Dutch publisher Joris van de Leur criticized the decision this week, telling The Telegraph in an interview that he has no plans of changing the original version and that his company, De Fontein, will continue publishing Dahl's famous works.
"Exaggerations are a figure of speech with him: if a person is fat, it represents gluttony and excess. Children understand what such literary hyperbole is. They really don’t think all fat kids are greedy," van de Leur said.
"Roald Dahl is the reason I came to work at this publishing house. His humor is second to none," he continued. "Fortunately, we have the freedom to see what that means for our translations. We will be careful not to detract from Dahl’s humor," he told the outlet.
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French publishing house Gallimard expressed a similar sentiment, telling The Telegraph in a statement that the revisions "only concern Britain."
"We have never changed Roald Dahl’s writings before, and we have no plans to do so today," the publisher said.
Dahl and his work have come under scrutiny in recent years for antisemitic comments he made prior during his career. His family issued an apology 30 years after his death for the "prejudiced remarks," saying in a statement that they "stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl's stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations."
Despite his history, many believe the edits to his works are too far, with authors and readers online denouncing them as "stupid," "pointless" and "totalitarian censorship."
Fox News' Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.
