Danny the Champion of the World – Roald Dahl

Although it seems perhaps targeted to slightly younger readers than I originally thought, I nonetheless really enjoyed this book. The plot, which seems to be a little recyclable in Roald Dahl’s books, is about a father who loves to poach pheasants from a rich landowner nearby, and the process of letting his son Danny in on this secret and letting him take a central role in the biggest heist in local history.

Perhaps one of the things that really stood out to me about this book – something that describes very few of the books I generally read – is that it is primarily a parenthood book. Through no conscious effort of my own, I have a lack of books dealing with the relationships between parents and children. This particular aspect of the book really appealed to me – maybe, it occurs to me, a little too much. The relationship between Danny and his father truly is heartwarming, but there were a few parts about this that were troubling to me. Firstly, William (the father) is narrated as a somewhat infallible character by Danny. However, there are several scenes where William either has a flare of anger, makes dangerous decisions on his son’s behalf, lies, steals (obviously), and breaks from the “perfect father” the narrator makes him out to be. Of course, this is more realistic than the alternative, but the narrator gives no hint to that. Secondly, the parenthood theme is taken perhaps a little too far in a few places. I noted one scene in which Danny described that he preferred to spend literally all of his time with his father, rather than spending time with friends from school. It’s one thing, and a good thing, to have a best friend for a father, but there is also an unaddressed element of this that inhibits social development. That was just a little thing I noted.

As for the writing and teachability of this book, I have mixed feelings. Like I said before, the writing seems targeted to a younger group than high school – maybe between 4^th and 8^th grade. It could definitely go beyond that point, but may be more subject to the “this is for little kiddies” mentality than alternative books. That being said, I really despise that mentality and think that youthfulness has no role as a limiting factor for good literature.

And this is definitely well-written. The character development is there – there is a slightly undeveloped sub-plot regarding Danny’s mother, but with Danny as a narrator it’s passable. The antagonist is perfectly despicable enough to warrant the father’s devotion to poaching his pheasants. This is made even more valid by the fact that the entire town is in on the poaching and pranking of Mr. Hazell. There are definitely some class issues in that relationship. And the voice! There are many voices in the book, which makes it a great resource for teaching that particular idea. From Danny’s adoring, youthful tone (Roald Dahl definitely knows children), to the comedic mispronunciations of the village policeman, to William’s mischievous, wise, concerned tone, the voices are a very teachable aspect of the book.

I think that if I were to teach this book, I would want to incorporate a writing section. The book is the account of a child’s experiences with a role model – something that teaches him a version of right versus wrong. While some may feel that the action of the novel is “wrong” – stealing, scheming, lying – it certainly draws attention to the fact that right and wrong are not necessarily universally understood. I would want students to pick an experience that has shaped their perceptions of what is good and what is bad, and ask them to write a story based on that theme.