One More BookFind a book
Cover of Danny the Champion of the World
Chapter · ages 8–12

Danny the Champion of the World

Written by Roald Dahl · Illustrated by Quentin Blake

Part of the Roald Dahl universeOpen the collection

Canonical classicFilm adaptationBestseller list
Top giftableAdults love it tooEndlessly rereadable

Dahl's warmest major novel: a father-son adventure about love, loyalty and a spectacular pheasant-poaching plan. It is less fantastical than his better-known books, but emotionally richer and more grounded.

  • Best for8–12
  • FormatChapter
  • Length240 pp
  • Read aloud~3 hr25 min
Save to a listFind similar books

The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Conversational
  • Literary
  • Comedic

Tone

  • Warm
  • Adventurous
  • Funny
  • Heartwarming
  • Nostalgic

Themes

On the pagefather son bond, pheasant poaching, caravan home, rural life, garage, secret plan, mr hazell, class conflict

Experience meters

Energy3/ 5
Humour3/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril2/ 5
Wonder2/ 5
Cosiness4/ 5
Emotional intensity3/ 5
Conceptual intensity2/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

Danny lives with his father in an old gypsy caravan beside their filling station and garage. They do not have much money, but Danny thinks his dad is the most wonderful person in the world. Then he discovers his father's great secret: he is a poacher, and he has a bold plan to outwit the arrogant local landowner, Mr Hazell. Danny the Champion of the World is Dahl in a gentler, more grounded mode. There is mischief, danger and rule-breaking, but the heart of the book is the loving bond between Danny and his father. Quentin Blake's illustrations support the warmth without overwhelming the prose. It is an excellent choice for readers ready for a longer classic that feels adventurous without relying on magic, monsters or grotesque cruelty.

“When I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself.”

The opening line

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 8–12
  • Read aloud · 7–12
  • Independent · 8–12

Prose load

Moderate

Visual support

Low

Reluctant-reader friendly

Workable

Read-aloud quality

Excellent

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Bedtime
  • Gift-buying
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly

Sensitive-child

4 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Father son story
  • Warm dahl
  • Rural adventure
  • Read aloud classic
  • Grounded classic

Avoid if

  • Uncomfortable with poaching
  • Wants magic dahl
  • Prefers high action
  • Needs modern setting

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Single parent family
  • Low self esteem
  • Anxiety and worry

In the classroom

How it works in school.

Roald Dahl's warm father-and-son adventure — a wonderful class read-aloud, rich for talk about family, loyalty and fairness.

Classroom role

  • Read aloud
  • Discussion and empathy
  • Classroom library

Good for teaching

  • Theme
  • Character motivation

Supports

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific pleasure is a father and son being absolutely on each other's side — no parent-villain dynamic, no betrayal, just shared mischief. The heist (drugging hundreds of pheasants with raisins to embarrass the local landowner) is one of the most satisfying capers in children's fiction, and the kind of book a nine-year-old presses on a parent afterwards.

  • Family belonging
  • Trickery and cleverness
  • Adventure and freedom
  • The underdog winning
  • Having a wise mentor

Why parents love it

The Dahl for parents who don't love the harder edges of Dahl — no Trunchbull, no eaten children, just an unusually tender father-son partnership and a slow caper of an ending. One of the strongest read-alouds in the seven-to-nine range, and the book that converts a child into a chapter-book reader without anyone noticing.

  • Beloved classic
  • Great writing
  • Nostalgia
  • Conversation starter

About the creators

About the creators.

RD

Roald Dahl

Writer · United Kingdom · b. 1916

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was a British author of subversive, darkly funny children's books that have sold over 300 million copies worldwide and remain anchored to virtually every UK primary-school bookshelf. Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl flew Hawker Hurricanes for the RAF in WWII before turning to fiction. His children's titles, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, Danny the Champion of the World, George's Marvellous Medicine, share a distinctive sensibility: plucky child heroes, grotesque adult villains, comic-grim peril, sudden cruelty, and final justice. Almost all are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and the joint output is generationally inseparable. The benchmark canonical-classic British children's author of the twentieth century.

More from Roald Dahl →
QB

Quentin Blake

Illustrator · United Kingdom · b. 1932

Sir Quentin Blake is a British illustrator born in 1932, one of the defining visual voices in modern children's books and the first Children's Laureate (1999–2001). He is most famous as the illustrator of Roald Dahl's children's books (The BFG, Matilda, The Twits, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Witches), their joint output is generationally inseparable. Blake also writes and illustrates his own picture books: Mister Magnolia, Mrs Armitage on Wheels, Clown, All Join In, Zagazoo. His linework is loose, scratchy, immediate, and deceptively expressive, a visual register that has become synonymous with Dahl's voice and with a particular flavour of warm-but-anarchic British children's publishing. Knighted in 2013 for services to illustration.

More from Quentin Blake →

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Cover of Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox

by Roald Dahl

Cover of The BFG
The BFG

by Roald Dahl

Cover of Matilda
Matilda

by Roald Dahl

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Cover of Fantastic Mr Fox
Fantastic Mr Fox

by Roald Dahl

The Sheep-Pig
Dick King-Smith
The Sheep-Pig

by Dick King-Smith

Stig of the Dump
Clive King
Stig of the Dump

by Clive King

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Cover of Matilda
Matilda

by Roald Dahl

Cover of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl

The Machine Gunners
Robert Westall
The Machine Gunners

by Robert Westall

More like this…

Books that share themes and topics with this one.

Cover of Stick Man
Stick Man

by Julia Donaldson

Cover of Hilda and the Mountain King
Hilda and the Mountain King

by Luke Pearson

Cover of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball

by Jeff Kinney

Buy or borrow

Pick up a copy.

  • Bookshop.org ↗
  • Waterstones ↗
  • Amazon UK ↗
  • Hive ↗
Find it at your local library →

When you buy through the links above, we may earn a small commission — it never costs you more, and it never changes the books we choose. How we’re funded →

Last reviewed · May 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

More ways to wander the room

BrowseThe whole library, with filtersFormat, age, theme, length — narrow it down your way.ShelvesEvery curated shelfAll our hand-built collections in one place.SearchLook for something specificTitle, author, series or a theme you have in mind.