“Danny the Champion of the World” by Roald Dahl
Genre: Children’s Fiction
Source: Gift
Summary from Goodreads:
Danny’s dad had a secret, but now the secret’s out and it’s going to lead Danny on the adventure of a lifetime.
Review
This was a fairly interesting Dahl book. We have an adult on the kid’s side for once! Danny’s father is very loving and supportive. That’s a 180 from many of the adults/parents in Dahl books. We still get our daily dose of bad guy with Mr. Hazell.
The whole Mr. Hazell situation is really odd. They do a good job explaining why he’s mean and why they don’t like him. I don’t like him. I just find it really problematic the way they deal with the situation. I really, really don’t like the idea of sneaking on to a man’s private property to steal animals he bought himself. That seems to cross a line for me. Yes the book tries to make the situation okay but I still don’t like it.
Aside from that issue the story was enjoyable enough. I loved seeing Danny and his dad’s relationship. It was very sweet and natural. Dahl’s storytelling abilities shine through in this book. There was something a bit comforting in the way he told the story. It was almost like a grandfather telling a story to a grandchild. [To be honest I have a sneaking suspicion that Dahl was drawing on some real life experiences for the story.]
The bottom line? A decent book from Dahl!
This book was read as part of my Roald Dahl challenge.
Feel free to join in!
Great review! I remember reading this one as a kid and enjoying it.