Customer Reviews

Boy in the Dress

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I'm loving my new Christmas Kindle for sampling new kid's books before ordering them for my school library. The first chapter (free) of The Boy in the Dress (2011 Stonewall Honor Award) sounds realistic and poignant to me, a 59-year old mother/librarian. I dare to hope the title will intrigue a few curious 5th and 6th grade readers, especially those that have been immersed in the Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney. The mix of text and illustrations (Kinney and now Walliams) is a draw for most of my students, but it's the voices of the characters which lock them in...Another kid telling them how it is, what it is, and what difference it makes. I'm going to order it, put it out there (after I read it) and wait for a response. Though possibly controversial among the adults in a school environment, I'm hoping that it is just what it sounds like, a boy's attempt to follow his fashion bliss. If it includes any reference to sexual feelings or actions, I won't be able to include it in the school collection. But I could recommend it to the public librarian in town. Many thanks to the author, David Walliams! I've been waiting 28 years for a sequel to "Jessie's Dream Skirt." Anyone remember THAT?

David Williams' THE BOY IN THE DRESS provides the powerful story of Dennis, who lives in a boring down in a boring house and has a passion for soccer - and fashion. When his friend Lisa discovers his stash of Vogue magazines and convinces him to wear a dress to school, trouble begins. A compelling, unusual story offers black and white drawings by Quentin Blake throughout.

The book arrived in excellent shape
and was a good book to read by
both adults and children.

Well, I'm a Brit grandmum with family in UK and in US. Can't imagine any of my grandkids getting into this book or relating to it. I read it in about 30 minutes and it just seemed wholely unrealistic.