45 pages 1 hour read

Roald Dahl

Danny, the Champion of the World

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1975

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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “The Filling Station”

Nine-year-old Danny is the narrator and protagonist of the story. He is an only child who lives with his father, William, in an old, sparsely furnished, one-room, “Romani caravan.” Danny’s father is a master mechanic, who owns a small filling station with 2 pumps and a well-equipped workshop. Unlike the workshop, the caravan has no electricity, so Danny and his father use a kerosene lamp and burner for light and cooking and a wood-burning stove for heat. Danny’s mother died when he was a baby, but he remembers a blissfully happy childhood growing up with his devoted father and muses that he “never had a moment’s unhappiness or illness” (3). Danny and his father share a bunk bed and sleeping with his father close by brings Danny immense comfort and joy.

Chapter 2 Summary: “The Big Friendly Giant”

Despite not being an educated man, William is a talented storyteller who delights Danny every evening with bedtime stories, some of which run over several nights. One of these stories is about a kind giant who catches children’s dreams, turning the good dreams into powders that turn the dreams into real, marvelous adventures for the children.

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