Danny The Champion Of The World
The next day, the vicar's wife (Mrs. Clipstone) delivers the sleeping pheasants to Danny's father's garage in a specially built baby carriage; however, the pheasants start flying out of the baby carriage as the soporific wears off. The birds do not travel far, as they're still sleepy. During the commotion, Mr. Hazell arrives and in a sputtering rage, confronts Danny, his father and Doc Spencer, accusing them of stealing his pheasants. With the help of Sergeant Enoch Samways, the village policeman, Danny and his father shoo the stunned pheasants over (and in some cases inside) Mr. Hazell's Rolls-Royce, damaging the car's paintwork in the process. As Mr. Hazell leaves disgraced, many of the pheasants wake up completely and fly away in the opposite direction from Hazell's property. The book ends when Danny is hailed as "the champion of the world" by his father, Doc Spencer and Sgt. Samways. Six pheasants died of a sleeping pill overdose, so Doc Spencer gives two each to Sergeant Samways, Mrs Clipstone and Danny and his father. Danny and his father then walk into town, intending to buy a new oven from Mr Wheeler to roast their pheasants. They also discuss possibly attempting to poach trout from a local stream.
Danny the Champion of the World
Seven superb stories, from the world's no. one storyteller. Meet the boy who can talk to animals and the man who can see with his eyes closed. And find out about the treasure buried deep underground. A cleaver mix of fact and fiction, this collection also includes how master storyteller Roald Dahl became a writer. With Roald Dahl, you can never be sure where reality ends and fantasy begins.
Superb stories, daring deeds, fantastic adventures! Going Solo is the action-packed tale of Roald Dahl's exploits as a World War II pilot. Learn all about his encounters with the enemy, his worldwide travels, the life-threatening injuries he sustained in a plane accident, and the rest of his sometimes bizarre, often unnerving, and always colorful adventures. Told with the same irresistible appeal that has made Roald Dahl one of the world's best-loved writers, Going Solo brings you directly into the action and into the mind of this fascinating man.
Danny has a life any boy would love - his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. 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.
Perfect timing for this post. We just finished Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator last night, and I pulled Danny the Champion of the World off the shelf. I agree with you that it's one of the best books ever and that Bennett's illustrations capture the essence of the novel. I also remember thinking as a child that this was a window into a world I could never hope to live myself: living in a gypsy caravan behind a gas station seemed so magical!
His fabulously popular children's books are read by children all over the world. Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.
"There was him as a baby. But his mother died when he was a young boy. But, that was okay because he still had his father. And his father was a good poacher. Do you know what he was a good poacher of? Pheasants! But once poaching he broke his ankle, and Danny helped him. And Danny was a champion poacher. He suggested raisins, but not just raisins worked. There had to be sleeping pills inside to work. And it make them fall asleep when they were roosting in the trees. And they would fall right down off the trees. And they used flashlights to find the pheasants."
While William is recovering from his injury, he and Danny found out that Mr. Hazell's annual pheasant-shooting party is approaching, which he hosts to curry favor and prestige among the gentry, and decide to humiliate him by luring all the pheasants away from the forest, so there will be no pheasants to shoot. Danny suggests that he and William should put the contents of sleeping tablets prescribed by Doc Spencer inside raisins which the pheasants will then eat; and William dubs this new method the "Sleeping Beauty". Having poached 120 pheasants from Hazell's Wood, William and Danny hide the drugged pheasants at the local vicar's house, while they took a taxicab home. The next day, the vicar's wife delivers the sleeping pheasants in a specially-built oversized baby carriage. As she is walking toward them, the pheasants attempt to escape, but they fall back. With the help of Sgt. Samways, the local constable, William and Danny herd the groggy birds onto Mr. Hazell's Rolls Royce, where the birds scratch the paintwork and defecate on his car. When the pheasants have woken completely, they depart, and Mr. Hazell drives off in disgrace, his fancy car and shooting party ruined. The book ends when Danny is hailed as "the champion of the world" by William, Doc Spencer, and Sgt. Samways, of whom most acquire several pheasants who had died of taking too many sleeping-pills. William and Danny walk off towards town, intending to buy a new oven for cooking their pheasants. As they go, Danny dwells in his narration on William's imagination and vivacity.
Review of Nat's readingWhat can I say? This is a very fine and superb interpretation of Dahl's book. Nat did a marvellous job here. Naturally he's doing all characters, mainly Danny who's the narrator of the whole story. Seeing the world of the quirky grown-ups through his eyes is a marvel and Nat's voice let's you feel this sense of wonder. That small boy, going from 8 to 9 (where everything changes and Danny is invited into the strange world of his father's dark secrets) is pure joy to listen to. His see-saw changes from bravery to pure sheer fear and fright are hilarious. But Nat's interpretation of Danny's father is fun also. A man who doesn't smile with his mouth but with his eyes, as the narrator (Danny) tells us, is hard to portray with your voice only. Nat finds a way, believe me. The way this grown-up (is he really?) stays grave while having a hell of a good time is exquisite. And yes, there are many other hilarious characters. One who's my favourite is the local policeman who has a tendency to pronounce the letter "h" where it's not supposed to be. That of course is to balance the lack of the "h" where it should have been pronounced. This is a congenial interpretation of one of my favourite children's books. Did Nat have a ball recording this? May I quote? "Oh 'e did h'indeed." Published byBBC Audiobooks (August 1, 1999) Unabridged / Out of PrintAudio CassetteISBN: 1855498642
Danny (9) and his dad William are very close, as Danny's mom died many years ago. Together, they live in a gypsy caravan behind a gas station where they work as mechanics. Danny's father own the only spot between a sea of land owned by a Mr. Victor Hazell, whom Danny's father detests. At night, while Danny sleeps, his Dad goes out poaching ... usually on Mr. Hazell's land. His dad wants to be a champion poacher like Danny's grandfather. Together (with some other townsmen) they conspire to steal all of Mr. Hazell's pheasants before Hazell's shooting party. Who will win this battle of wits? 041b061a72