Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Candlewick (2013), Edition: Reprint, 224 pages
Description
Down on their luck, the Tooting family buys an old camper van and begins repairing it, but after installing an engine that once belonged to an extraordinary car, they are off to find other original parts, pursued by a sinister man who wants Chitty for himself.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ChristianR
I really enjoy Frank Cottrell Boyce's books, and this did not disappoint. It's very funny. This one is written for a slightly younger reader -- perhaps 4th grade and up. The Tooting family has a change of fortune when the father loses his job, so they decide to travel the world. To do so, they buy
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an old camper and the dad and son Jem work for months fixing it up. Once they start on their journey, things get weird. The car seems to have a mind of its own, and miraculously it even flies without their knowing it could. It flies them to the top of the Eiffel Tower, where they are almost arrested until the dad says something romantic about his wife and the whole of Paris instantly melts (including the police). They also visit the Sphinx in Egypt and Madagascar. Ultimately, it's a great romp. Show Less
LibraryThing member pussreboots
Before starting in on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce , read the introduction. Boyce explains why he wrote this sequel and why he wrote it the way he did. Boyce, like I think many people of our generation, saw the movie before reading the book, and was shocked by how
Boyce goes one further — deciding that it could be any model of flying car. Well, not exactly, but the Tooting's vehicle of choice is one of those old air cooled VW bus — something vintage with the movie. I have to admit that a flying VW bus gave me pause but Boyce trundles on with the comedic confidence you'll find from the likes of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. And he pulls it off.
In all fairness to the cover art — the Tootings don't start off with a flying car (or a VW bus). Both come over the course of the first third of the novel. The bus is part midlife crisis and part family hobby, a means to a family vacation on an extreme budget after dear old dad is made redundant.
The remainder of the book is the adventure itself — some of which involves flying. There are baddies who are a stylistic compromise between the straight up gangster types of Fleming's book and the more magical (surreal) baddies of the film.
And, just as the film broke for Boyce, right as things were getting really interesting, the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. As this is a book about a flying car, the cliffhanger is rather literal.
The relaunch continues (thankfully!) with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (March 2013)
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little the movie resembled Ian Fleming's book. The only thing the book and the movie agreed on was the make of the car and the fact that it could fly of its own accord.Boyce goes one further — deciding that it could be any model of flying car. Well, not exactly, but the Tooting's vehicle of choice is one of those old air cooled VW bus — something vintage with the movie. I have to admit that a flying VW bus gave me pause but Boyce trundles on with the comedic confidence you'll find from the likes of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. And he pulls it off.
In all fairness to the cover art — the Tootings don't start off with a flying car (or a VW bus). Both come over the course of the first third of the novel. The bus is part midlife crisis and part family hobby, a means to a family vacation on an extreme budget after dear old dad is made redundant.
The remainder of the book is the adventure itself — some of which involves flying. There are baddies who are a stylistic compromise between the straight up gangster types of Fleming's book and the more magical (surreal) baddies of the film.
And, just as the film broke for Boyce, right as things were getting really interesting, the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. As this is a book about a flying car, the cliffhanger is rather literal.
The relaunch continues (thankfully!) with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (March 2013)
Show Less
Awards
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2015)
The White Ravens (2012)
CCBC Choices (2013)
The Best Children's Books of the Year (Nine to Twelve — 2013)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Fiction for Older Readers — 2012)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
224 p.; 7.79 inches
ISBN
0763663530 / 9780763663537