KidLit Forum

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

This is a British children`s comedy fiction book with a typically starts with a boy, Ben, who hates to stay with his Granny every Friday, because his parents go to see a dancing show named “Strictly Stars Dancing”. Of course, Ben finds his Granny boring because she always feeds him cabbage dishes: cabbage soup, cabbage cake everything from cabbage and they are always playing Scrabble. One day the Granny find out that Ben doesn`t want to stay with her. I was impressed about how Granny solved this problem, she invents a lot of things to make his grandson stay. She invents to be a jewel thief and decides to steal the crown jewels with him. How many Grannies should do that, maybe nobody, expect they feel boring and need attention or are almost dead like this Granny. The story became more real when the Granny and her grandson meet the Queen and realized that she is in the same situation with her grandchildren like Ben`s grandmother.
Although the ending is very sad, Ben learns a valuable lesson: “All you can do in this life is follow your dreams. Otherwise, you`re just wasting your time."

Yes, unfortunately we often put our old parents and grandparents aside. The sad thing is that we don't realise it until it's too late and they are taken away from us. As much as we complain that they are too boring, their house smells like boiled cabbage and mint candies, these are the things that stay with us even when they are not around anymore.

The nice thing about this book is that it makes you laugh more than it makes you sad. It gets so funny when you imagine an old respectable old lady messing around in a black suit in order to proof to his grandson that she herself can be amazing. If you check the internet it is full of funny videos about old people that hated the ideea of becoming serious and boring once they reached a certain age. There are old people who can't help playing pranks and going into exciting trips, doing things that every person would like to do before they died. I admire this kind of people even if I don't think I would end up like that. Romanian old people are the "warm and incompetent" type. They are vulnerable and complaining and wouldn't step out of their confort zone. I think it depends on what we see other old people around us do. We would certailnly behave the same for fear of not being rejected. I think if I saw a granny dancing in front of my house I would think she's crazy and not that she keeps her spirit young.