Gangsta Granny

Gangsta Granny is a British children's comedy fiction book, written by David Walliams,^[2] illustrated by Tony Ross and published by HarperCollins.^[1]

Plot

Ben, a young boy, hates his granny and hates having to stay with her every Friday because his parents go to see a dancing show named Strictly Stars Dancing.^[3] He finds her boring and repetitive because his granny always feeds him cabbage-related dishes, most commonly cabbage soup, they are constantly playing Scrabble and her television hasn't been working since the 1980s. Ben loves plumbing and is a long-term subscriber to the magazine Plumbing Weekly, which he buys every week from Raj's shop. Ben's parents disapprove of him being a plumber though, - their ambition was for their only child to be a professional ballroom dancer.

One day, Ben calls his parents at Granny's house and asks them to take him home. Mum and Dad ignore Ben and disapprove of the proposal. It is suggested that his gran overhears the conversation as he cannot hear her snoring. The next morning, his granny seems somewhat depressed and crestfallen.^[1]

On his next stay, Ben is served boiled eggs by Granny, which Ben doesn't like, and flicks the egg gloop onto a window. So, Ben searches for a biscuit tin which he knows held some delicious chocolate biscuits. To his surprise, the tin feels much heavier than usual. Ben unscrews the lid and finds many diamonds, rings, bracelets. necklaces and earrings clustered together in the tin. Ben hears Granny approaching and quickly puts the tin back and sits back down at the table.

Next week, Ben is eager to visit Granny's - the diamonds in the tin made him curious. Will he ever find the answer to this mysterious question?

Film adaptation

The book has been adapted into a 70-minute film for BBC One, which was shown on 26 December 2013.

References