Review: Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

The combination of sparky father, pheasants and a top secret adventure makes Danny Champion of the World a winning read for children (and adults) who love Roald Dahl's quirky novels. Danny is a nine year old boy who lives in a tiny gypsy caravan with his single dad. Danny's mum died when he was still a baby and consequently, Danny and his dad are very close. Together, Danny and his dad run the local service station and enjoy a quiet, easy existence. But when local businessman Mr Hazell begins to make their life difficult, the pair plot a clever revenge to poach Mr Hazell's prized pheasants, that leads to some unexpected surprised ...

Like all of Dahl's work, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Danny Champion of the World. I never read this one when I was a kid--during my primary school years, my oldest brother Ben would buy me one of Dahl's books every year on my birthday and eventually, I suppose, there came a year when the dreaded word 'teen' was tacked on to the end of my age and that was the end of it. I know that my eldest niece, Lauren, now loves Dahl's books too. My younger niece, Sophie is named after the little girl from The BFG. Dahl's books really are family books, I suppose ...

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Danny Champion of the World. It had the right mix of adventure--Danny carefully driving a car through the woods to find his missing dad--and Dahl's clever humour. (Just you wait and see how they manage to poach more than one hundred pheasants.) There is also a bit of morality in there--the way each of the neighbours help one another and the way in which Mr Hazell gets his just desserts. I also smiled a bit, noticing that the BFG makes a bit of a cameo in there--as this one was published first, it is likely that Dahl later decided to expand on the idea.

An absolutely enjoyable middle grade adventure. Highly recommended.




This book was read as part of the Eclectic Reader Challenge 2015.

Category: Middle Grade Adventure

Progress 1/12

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