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Watch this video in which the author shares his writing tips. Can you use some of these tips in your own writing? Look at the graph of told-offness in Chapter 27. Could you make your own graph about a similar topic? 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!
Look at granny’s recipe for cabbage cake. Can you create a recipe for something that tastes much nicer? Maybe I would have fared better, if I liked his TV writing (Little Britain), but I am not a fan of that show at all, finding it either mean spirited, exploiting the worst stereotypes or just plain stupid. Sorry. Browse our full range of Gangsta Granny resources here! You can also explore our collection of activities based on Walliams' other fantastic titles here. What is a character description? Granny loves food made with cabbages. Can you design a menu with lots of cabbage-related foods (e.g. cabbage soup, cabbage cake)? 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.
Raj
One day, Ben calls his parents at Granny's house and asks them to take him home. Mum and Dad ignore Ben and disapprove of the proposal. Granny somehow overhears the conversation due to the indistinct sound made by Ben while he was talking. The next morning, his Granny seems somewhat upset and disappointed thinking that her grandson doesn't love her. Walliams pulls a mind-scrambler at the beginning of act three of this book. He has the titular granny die of cancer. Find out about different types of dances, e.g. tango, ballroom, and rumba. What makes them different? 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. Imagine that you are Mr Parker. Create a set of Neighbourhood Watch rules to help others in the community stay safe from crime.
Make up some new book titles which include alliteration, e.g. The Perilous Postman, Annoying Aunties, Groovy Grandad. Could you write a story based on one of these book titles? I read this as a bedtime story over a few nights with my children, aged 5 and 8. Ben thinks his granny is a boring old lady, who only likes playing scrabble and eating cabbage but he's about to find out that he has under appreciated Granny. Could she possibly be a gangster? Or even a gangsta?! Write a biography for Flavio Flavioli, the dancer from Italy who performs on Strictly Stars Dancing. Ben has a list of 10 things that he hated about his granny. Can you write a list of 10 things that you love about a family member?I do not want to be unfair. This is a book for children. I am not a child, but a grumpy old man. Still, I occasionally read (and very much enjoy) YA novels, I just love funny novels and this is among the bestselling comedy books in the UK these are three valid reasons for curiosity - and there may be other adults like me tempted to try David Walliams. I don’t know why you don’t give up on this pipe dream of becoming a plumber, Ben, and think about dancing professionally,” said Mum, her lip-liner scrawling across her cheek as the car bounced over a particularly bumpy speed bump. Mum had a habit of applying make-up in the car, which meant she often arrived somewhere looking like a clown. “Maybe, just maybe, you could end up on Strictly!” added Mum excitedly. You’re upsetting your mother. Now just be quiet please, Ben, there’s a good boy,” replied Dad firmly, as he turned up the volume on the stereo. Inevitably, a Strictly CD was playing. 50 Golden Greats from the Hit TV Show was emblazoned on the cover. Ben hated the CD, not least because he had heard it a million times. In fact, he had heard it so many times it was like torture. 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. The author gives a step-by-step guide for pretending to brush your teeth. Can you write a set of instructions which show people how to brush their teeth properly? 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. Gangsta Granny Strikes Again! is a hilarious and wonderfully entertaining adventure, featuring many of the much-loved characters from the original cast... 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.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. Mr Parker has a very large nose and wears dark clothing, a distinctive pork-pie hat and a bow tie. He is an irritating and extremely nosy man who uses binoculars to spy on his neighbours. When he speaks, Mr Parker has a nasal voice which can sound rather annoying.” 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. Write about one of the adventures that granny might have had when she was the most wanted jewel thief in the world. This book was so cute and so much fun. I loved the plot when I read about it and as much when I read it in execution. The story goes along for a bit as you expect it to, but then also takes a few unexpected turns as well. It has adventure, humour, lots of fun illustrations as well (by Tony Ross) which I really loved as well. It is lighthearted pretty much all through but takes on a slightly more serious note towards the end which is a little bittersweet. Ben is pretty likeable, and his parents are a little crazy but fun too. In poking fun at their obsession with the dancing show, Walliams is also I guess poking fun at his own world (I only discovered that he is a judge on Britain’s Got Talent when I wrote a post about this book some time ago). Granny who might look like your typical grandma turns out surprising in her own way, though what she really wants in life is no different from others in her place. I enjoyed her tales about all her jewel heists in various parts of the world. Another thing I liked about the book is that without being preachy, it is able to deliver an important message as well about age and about the relationship between generations—not just grandparents and grandchildren but parents and children as well. I really enjoyed this a lot. The one complaint I had though was that the humour in some places is somewhat on the crass side which I found off-putting, but not all of it, so it didn’t interfere with my reading too much.
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