Boy in the Dress [Import] [Hardcover]

David Walliams (Author)

Book Description

The sparkling debut children's novel from David Walliams, co-creator and co-star of the multi-award-winning Little Britain. Dennis was different. Why was he different, you ask? Well, a small clue might be in the title of this book! Charming, surprising and hilarious -- The Boy in the Dress is everything you would expect from the co-creator of Little Britain. David Walliams's beautiful first novel will touch the hearts (and funny bones) of children and adults alike.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—The protagonist in this offbeat story is Dennis, a 12-year-old boy whose eclectic interests range from football (soccer) to fashion. He's mocked for his purchase of Vogue magazine but he just can't resist poring over the photo shoots, enamored with the color, cut, and style of women's dresses. Dennis meets up with Lisa, the school hottie, who is two years older and also a fashion aficionado. She plays dress up with Dennis and convinces him to come to school as "Denise," a French exchange student. Hilarity ensues as soccer-star Dennis, outfitted in an orange sequined sheath, complete with wig and makeup, attempts to pull off the ruse. This quirky comedy also has poignant moments between Dennis and his dad and brother. It's a quick read and Blake's stylistic line illustrations are the icing on the cake. All that being said, it's difficult to predict an audience for this book. Younger students may be turned off by the Briticisms, and it's a bit too juvenile for older readers.—Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School, Lancaster, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Dennis is a bit surprised—but not terribly nonplussed—to discover that he enjoys wearing dresses. The 12-year-old does, however, realize this is not the kind of revelation he wants to share with his truck-driving dad, his older brother, or his mates on the school football team, where he is a star player. But these things have a way of getting out, and soon enough Dennis finds himself both exposed and expelled. Is this the end? Well, no, it’s not, and in his first novel for young readers, Walliams—a celebrated English comedian—has written a witty, high-spirited and, well, sensible story about cross-dressing and other real-life issues. Yes, things may be resolved a bit too easily and some American readers may scratch their heads over the profusion of Briticisms and cultural references, but context and Blake’s inspired illustrations help explain most of them. Besides, readers will likely be having far too good a time to much care. Grades 4-7. --Michael Cart --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens H/B; UK Edition edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007279035
• ISBN-13: 978-0007279036
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,609,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DAVID WALLIAMS is an actor and writer best known for his work with Matt Lucas in the multi-award-winning sketch show Little Britain. His debut children's novel, The Boy in the Dress, was published in 2008 to unanimous critical acclaim and he has since developed a reputation as a natural successor to Roald Dahl.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A child's fantasy come true, November 6, 2010

By 

Samuel Rafael - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Boy in the Dress (Kindle Edition)

This is a book that's not just for kids. A child's fantasy come true and a worthwhile read for any age. However, I must point out that there are a couple of annoying but minor technical glitches for Kindle, text-to-speech listeners that one needs to skip over. I think these are caused by a illustrations that were scanned as text. Not a deal breaker though.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David seems to be onto something here, May 13, 2011

By 

Anne Sharp (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy in the Dress (Hardcover)

I came to this book as a grown-up fan of David Walliams, interested to see what his kids' books were like. This was the first one I read and although I like "Mr. Stink" and "Billionaire Boy" too I think it's his best, maybe because there's such a strongly felt autobiographical element to it. David has discussed before the fact that his college girlfriend used to like to dress him up as a girl and take him out nightclubbing, so conclusions can be reasonably drawn about the central situation in this book--twelve-year-old Dennis is befriended by an older girl he's got a crush on, who talks him into letting her dress him up like a Barbie doll and taking him to school that way. It makes me a little uncomfortable to think about children reading a book which is basically about the birth of a cross-dressing fetish. But then David has made a career out of making people uncomfortable with his sometimes edgy humor, so a certain lack of inhibition is to be expected. There is a need for books for children that deal with uncomfortable topics in an intelligent and compassionate way, and I do think that, as with his entertainments for adults, David does a good job of leading us to that nervous-making edge in a reasonably responsible and socially redeeming manner. Lessons are learned about kindness and tolerance and the importance of caring for one another, which as it turns out are recurring themes in the children's literature of David Walliams. The opening chapters describing Dennis' grief at his mother's disappearance from his life and the cruelty of the macho code that prevents Dennis and his brother and father from expressing love and concern for one another are very moving, and though just a little Hollywoody for my taste the big happy unrealistic fantasy ending is again vintage Walliams--after all, his biggest claim to fame is a comedy sketch series in which wheelchair-bound men can walk whenever they want to and psychotic women break into perfect lucidity when using cell phones.

The only drawback about Walliams' chapterbooks to me as an American reader is that they are written in a very distinctive British idiom full of colloquialisms and references to UK-specific products. As with "Little Britain," a certain amount of Googling has to take place if you want to get specifics about which celebrity or brand of candy bar is being mentioned, but it's not that important as you can usually get the gist from the context. Though some of those candies look really good.

5.0 out of 5 stars A very touching, entertaining story, January 11, 2012

By 

Bug Dog Books - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy in the Dress (Paperback)

I received this book for my birthday from a good friend. He knows my tastes well. If you like the show Little Britain (of which the author is one of the stars) you will like this book. I am an adult, but I enjoy reading children's fiction and this one was very original. You do not often see children's books handle such interesting topics with such grace and humour--but this one does. Such great characters and a great story. I will hopefully get my hands on Mr. Walliams other books very soon.