I thought that the writing was along the lines of Roald Dahl, however unlike Dahl's writing there was a moral to this story, which surprised me a little bearing in mind David Walliams' comedy! I would give a word of warning that there is quite a sad event in this book, which may be a little upsetting for more sensitive children. Its a heart warming story about a boy who discovers that his granny is not just about cabbage and scrabble and is an international jewel thief. Together they plan the world's biggest heist - the Crown Jewels! Mr Stink’ (2009) and ‘Gangsta Granny’ (2011) – both entertaining and amusing novels from the now very commercially successful pen of David Walliams. Previously by David Walliams: The Boy in the Dress Mr Stink Billionaire Boy Gangsta Granny Ratburger Demon Dentist Awful Auntie Grandpa's Great Escape The World's Worst Children The Midnight Gang Also available in Picture Book: The Slightly Annoying Elephant The First Hippo on the Moon The Queen's Orang-utan The Bear Who Went Boo! There's a Snake in My School! • Gangsta Granny \"In fairness to the boy she does stink of cabbage,\" agreed Mum, as she applied some last minute lip-liner. \"You're not helping, wife,\" muttered Dad. \"At worst my mother has a very slight odour of boiled vegetables.\" \"Can't I come with you?\" pleaded Ben. \"I love ball-whatsit dancing,\" he lied. \"It's called ballroom dancing,\" corrected Dad. \"And you don't love it. You said, and I quote, 'I would rather eat my own bogeys than watch that rubbish'.\" Now, Ben's mum and dad loved ballroom dancing. Sometimes Ben thought they loved it more than they loved him. There was a TV show on Saturday evenings that Mum and Dad never missed called Strictly Stars Dancing, where celebrities would be paired with professional ballroom dancers. 12

Added to all this, David’s books have achieved unprecedented critical acclaim: Awful Auntie, Ratburger and Demon Dentist won the National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year and in France David was awarded the popular Tamtam for Mr Stink and the prestigious Le Prix Du Livre De La Jeunesse for Ratburger, so it comes as no surprise that countless broadsheet reviewers have compared David to his all-time hero, Roald Dahl. Their journey in crime is extremely entertaining, especially when they met the Queen.The language is conversational so it is easy to get swept along in the narrative but sufficiently peppered with vocabulary that could challenge years 3 or 4 in some places.Find out what might happen to your teeth if you only pretended to brush them as Ben does in the story. Plumbing Weekly Ben's mum and dad had discovered their love of ballroom dancing too late to become champions themselves. And, to be honest, they seemed to prefer sitting on their burns watching it on TV to actually taking part. As such, Ben tried to keep his passion private. To avoid hurting his mum and dad's feelings, he stashed his copies of Plumbing Weekly under his bed. And he had made an arrangement with Raj, so that every week the newsagent would keep the plumbing magazine aside for him. Now, though, he couldn't find it anywhere. Ben had searched for the magazine behind Kerrang and Heat and even looked underneath The Lady (not an actual lady, I mean the magazine called The Lady), all to no avail. Raj's store was madly messy, but people came from miles away to shop there as he always brought a smile to their faces. 31 Gangsterimummin kuolemasta on kulunut vuoden verran, kun Lontoota alkaa repiä uusi ryöstöaalto. Ensin katoaa Tutankhamonin naamio British Museumista, eivätkä muutkaan kansallisaarteet ole turvassa nokkelalta varkaalta. Naapurustossa asuva herra Parker on edelleen vakuuttunut Benin syyllisyydestä, ja sen seurauksena sankarimme huomaa olevansa keskellä vauhdikasta seikkailua. Lisäväriä tapahtumiin tuovat salaperäinen musta kissa, Thamesissa kelluva jäävuori, seniorimopo, kebabia syövä hummeriasuinen rouva, paritanssista turhan paljon innostuneet vanhemmat ja tietysti myös kaikkien Walliams-romaanien vakiohahmo, vanhentuneita makeisia kulmakaupassaan myyvä Raj.

His most recent fiction title, The World’s Worst Children, published on 19th May 2016 sold over 340,000 copies in the UK alone. It went straight to No. 1 on release where it stayed for 4 weeks and also concurred Children’s Books charts, where it stayed at No.1 for 7 weeks. Internationally sales continue to thrive, The World’s Worst Children also went straight to No. 1 in the Australian children’s chart and remained there for three consecutive weeks and reached the No. 1 in the overall book chart in New Zealand. He goes home and now can't wait to see his grandma again to find out about these jewels. But when his dad rings Granny up, she says she's too busy that evening to have Ben sleep over. Cabbagy Water \"Are Mummy and Daddy not coming in?\" she asked, a little crestfallen. This was one of the things Ben couldn't stand about her: she was always talking to him like he was a baby. Broom-broom-brroooooooooommm. 1,'ogether Granny and Ben watched the little brown car race off, leaping over the speed bumps. Mum and Dad didn't like spending time with her any more than Ben did. It was just a convenient place to dump him on a Friday night. \"No, erm... Sorry, Granny... \" spluttered Ben. \"Oh, well, come in then,\" she muttered. \"Now, I've set up the Scrabble board and for your tea, I've got your favourite... cabbage soup!\" Ben's face dropped even further. Noooooooo 000000000! he thought. How might granny be feeling when she hears Ben tell his parents that he doesn’t want to stay with her? Think of different words to describe her emotions. Draw a picture of how granny’s face might look at that time. Gangsta Granny is a 2011 British children's comedy fiction book, written by David Walliams, [1] illustrated by Tony Ross and published by HarperCollins. A sequel, Gangsta Granny Strikes Again, was released in 2021.Gangsta Granny us' not 'one of them'. He was so full of life and laughter, Raj seemed a world away from parents and teachers and all the grown-ups who felt they could tell you off because they were bigger than you. \"Just because your granny 1s old, young Ben,\" said Raj, \"doesn't mean that she is boring. I am getting on a bit myself. And whenever I have met your granny I have found her to be a very interesting lady.\" \"But-\" \"Don't be too hard on her, Ben,\" pleaded Raj. \"We will all be old one day. Even you. And I'm sure your granny will have a secret or two. Old people always do...\" • Make a list of questions to ask the Queen if you had the chance. Could you role-play an interview with the Queen? David has proved himself as a dramatic actor in BBC2's 'Capturing Mary' with Dame Maggie Smith, in BBC1's Agatha Christie series 'Partners In Crime', as Frankie Howerd in the biopic ‘Rather You Than Me’ for BBC4, and on the stage in Harold Pinter’s 'No Man’s Land' starring alongside Sir Michael Gambon. He received the Comedy Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his performance as Bottom in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directed by Michael Grandage. David Walliams is fast becoming a global phenomenon in the world of children’s literature – his ability to wow fans is unprecedented with global sales over 14.1 million. Choose a person that you know (or a made-up character) and think of different secrets that they might have. Can you write a story about this?

Walliams is a clever writer. He hides all sorts of moral lessons (which I usually hate) in his books and always with a light touch. In this book Ben loves his Granny but he thinks she's boring. She cooks disgusting-smelling cabbage soup and plays endless games of Scrabble. But... she has a biscuit tin of shiny jewels, or perhaps they are just glittery glass, only at the end do you find out. And so their joint career as jewel thieves on a mobility scooter attempting to steal the Crown Jewels begins. They are caught! But the Queen intervenes. She turns out to be quite an interesting lady who gets them off the hook! Due to his obnoxious parents’ desire to have the night to themselves once per week (so they can watch their celebrity dance shows on the telly) Ben is shipped off to his grandmother’s bungalow every Friday evening. Ben hates spending time with his granny; she’s boring and smells of cabbage. Things change, though, when Ben discovers his boring granny used to be an international jewel thief.Gangsta Granny is a British children's comedy fiction book, written by David Walliams, illustrated by Tony Ross and published by HarperCollins. Publication date: 27 October 2011.

Walliams pulls a mind-scrambler at the beginning of act three of this book. He has the titular granny die of cancer. Granny’s door makes a ‘Clunk’ sound as it is closed. Can you think of other words that describe a sound (e.g. oink, bang, swish)? All her life, she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels, and now she needs Ben’s help… Teaching Ideas and Resources: English

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In Chapter 5 there is a timetable for ‘granny’s hectic life’. Could you create a new, more exciting timetable with lots of different activities at various times each day? Could you make up some questions for others to answer about your timetable (e.g. How long does a particular activity last?)? Gangsta Granny suffers from the same problems: It uses the lowest common denominators to gain as wide an audience as possible that it overshoots at those who actually prefer to think for themselves and ask questions. Case in point: Ben's parents are such unlikely caricatures of adults in their obsession with (and reduction to) ballroom dancing, it is painful. And though his grandmother's secret past as a thief might be a funny idea in itself (just not very original), her other persona of 'granny' is such a stereotype it should not have made it past the first editor. Raj tries to sell some Cornettos with a Best Before date of 15th November 1996. Find out what might happen to food after their best-before dates. How do we keep different types of food fresh for as long as possible? Little Britain’, which he co-created with Matt Lucas, started on Radio 4 and soon progressed to BBC1. The show has won numerous international awards including three BAFTAs, and now plays in over 100 countries. ‘Little Britain Live’ performed to a million people in the UK, Ireland and Australia. David and Matt followed ‘Little Britain’ with the hugely popular spoof airport documentary series 'Come Fly With Me'.