Danny the Champion of the World (Puffin Fiction) |
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Roald Dahl
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Pages: 224 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0141311320
Pub: Puffin Books
Pub date: 2001-04-05
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 12728
Editorial Review:
: "My father, without the slightest doubt, was the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had". Danny feels very lucky. He adores his life with his father, living in a gypsy caravan, listening to his stories, tending their gas station, puttering around the workshop, and occasionally taking off to fly home-built gas balloons and kites. His father has raised him on his own, ever since Danny's mother died when he was four months old. Life is peaceful and wonderful ... until he turns 9 and discovers his father's one vice. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world. Danny is right up to Roald Dahl's impishly brilliant standards. An intense and beautiful father-son relationship is balanced with subtle escapades that will have even the most rigid law-abider rooting them on. Dahl's inimitable way with words leaves the reader simultaneously satisfied and itching for more. (Ages 9 to 13) --Emilie Coulter
Reader Reviews:
The Danny the World Champion (10/10 people found this helpful)
Who are the main characters? Who is your favourite character and why?
Well Danny and his dad are the main characters while the side characters were Doc Spencer, Mr. Hazell, Sergeant Samways, Mr Snoddy the head teacher of Danny, Captain Lancaster, Rabbetts the head keeper and Mrs. Clipstone.
What is the basic plot of the book and how does it develop?
Danny's mum died and his father William looks after him. Not until Danny was ten, he didn't know his father had a passion for poaching; he poached in Mr Victor Hazell's forest of the plumpest pheasants and he fell into a trap set by a keeper and broke leg. He wanted to do something to get revenge. Danny has an idea and they try it. The plan is successful until Mr Hazell comes past in his car and sees all the pheasants...
How would you describe the atmosphere of the book?
This is an exciting book about the relationship of a father and son.
What was the most exciting moment in the book?
It is so thrilling when Danny drives the Baby Austin Seven from the workshop to the forest to find his father at 2:30am.
What were the best and worst things about this book?
There are lots of good things about the book. One of them is that Danny knows his father loves him with all his heart and he really appreciates that. One bad thing is that Sergeant Samways tries to let Mr Hazell have his pheasants back.
Did this book change the way you thought or felt about anything?
Only that you shouldn't go and try to take something that doesn't belong to you from someone that doesn't like to share.
Who do you think would like this book?
Well about 9-11 year olds who love adventure stories
A lovely, heartwarming Dahl story (1/2 people found this helpful)
Most Roald Dahl stories are remembered for their riotous, rollicking, rauccous, uproarious and irreverent humour, but this Roald Dahl story is a different creature altogether. It is a longer novel in the vein of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yet it is tinged with the pastoral setting of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Danny the Champion is a perfect example of a Dahl book being well-balanced between rollicking humour and close, tender relationships. It allows Dahl to really come into his own as a children's writer, developing the theme of relationships even further than when it was first introduced in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The story is a heartwarming yarn about the deep love between a father and his son. Its pastoral tone is closer to Fantastic Mr. Fox, until Danny's father resembles Mr. Fox's love for his fox family. Mr. Hazell as a Dahl villain ranks with The Grand High Witch and Miss Trunchbull as among the most revolting baddies that Dahl had ever created. The first half of the book demonstrates how Danny and his father reciprocate their love. First Danny's father provides for his son's growth, and Danny braves the odds to rescue from the poacher's trap in Hazell's Wood. The rest of the book demonstrate the vital togetherness that holds the relationship together, collaborating on the new poaching method that Danny had specially invented to give Mr. Hazell a taste of his own medicine.
Although this book is a Dahl masterpiece, I feel that some parts could have been cut for holding up the action. I feel that the story would be better off without the parts about Danny's school, Captain Lancaster and the cane. I feel the same way about the BFG part and the fire-balloon part. These episodes hold up the action and don't connect to the plot of the story. But then it's easy to omit these parts. Nevertheless, this is still a lovely, heartwarming story about the love that a parent feels for his child. It really allowed Dahl to develop the other side of his children's writing, and marked a turning-point in his books. An unqualified masterpiece.
Danny the champ (4/5 people found this helpful)
Danny the CHampion of the World by Roald Dahl, is about a child called Danny and his father. They go poaching together.
Danny the Champion of the World is my favourite book because it is really exciting and when you start to read, you can't stop!!!
I like it because it is exciting and fun to read. Roald Dahl uses good language and describes things well.
I would recomend this book to 8-10 years old and they would love it.
Dahl at his best (1/2 people found this helpful)
This is a young adult novel, not a children's book and it is one of Roald Dahl's very best. A sweet, heart warming story with a great deal of love and honesty. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
Roald Dahl at his best (6/8 people found this helpful)
I loved this book as a child and still do as an adult. It is a touching story, which you can't help feeling involved with as you read. It has an original premise and is told in Roald Dahl's unique and wonderful style. A joy to read to younger children, to be read by older children, as well as the young at heart. Great book.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Classics
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Fiction
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Ages 5-8 -> Authors -> Dahl, Roald
Books -> Subjects -> Children’s Books -> Ages 9-11 -> Authors -> Dahl, Roald
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)