On This Page
Description
"Crackpot" is what everybody calls the Pott family. So when they go to buy a new car and come back with a wreck, nobody is surprised-except for the Potts themselves. First, the car has a name, and she tells them what it is! Then they find out that she can fly ... and swim. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a car on a mission to stop a criminal gang in its tracks-and she's taking the Potts with her. Jump into the world's most loved magical car for her first adventure.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I really enjoyed this book, and probably enjoyed it more than I ever did the movie starring Dick Van Dyke. The movie was “loosely based” on the book, so it’s almost a different story.
It came as a surprise to me that Ian Fleming, the creator of 007, and himself a member of the Intelligence Service, was the author of this delightful story. As it happens, this book was in a library of books we bought at an estate sale any years ago.
The plot is about a simple, poor, British inventor that sells (or licenses) his candy invention/recipe to Skrumshus (sic) Limited, the candy company, buys a soon-to-be-scrapped former race car, and, after restoring it to health, goes on holiday and adventure with his family. In the Adventure holiday, they show more discover the car’s magical personality, bring criminals to justice, and make lifelong friends.
Fleming writes with an avuncular style, throwing in educational tidbits and humorous asides. It is almost like he wrote a clean spy novel for children. I smiled at his wit throughout the story and I am loaning the book to my elementary-school-aged grandchildren. It is a book worthy of out-loud reading, and, indeed, I read it out loud to my own children when they were younger.
Lastly, John Burningham’s illustrations are straightforward, deft, and beautiful. show less
It came as a surprise to me that Ian Fleming, the creator of 007, and himself a member of the Intelligence Service, was the author of this delightful story. As it happens, this book was in a library of books we bought at an estate sale any years ago.
The plot is about a simple, poor, British inventor that sells (or licenses) his candy invention/recipe to Skrumshus (sic) Limited, the candy company, buys a soon-to-be-scrapped former race car, and, after restoring it to health, goes on holiday and adventure with his family. In the Adventure holiday, they show more discover the car’s magical personality, bring criminals to justice, and make lifelong friends.
Fleming writes with an avuncular style, throwing in educational tidbits and humorous asides. It is almost like he wrote a clean spy novel for children. I smiled at his wit throughout the story and I am loaning the book to my elementary-school-aged grandchildren. It is a book worthy of out-loud reading, and, indeed, I read it out loud to my own children when they were younger.
Lastly, John Burningham’s illustrations are straightforward, deft, and beautiful. show less
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of my childhood favorites, and revisiting it as an adult reminded me why. It's a jolly story about an unusual family, the Potts, and their supercharged Paragon Panther of a car. The Potts can't do anything like ordinary people; when they buy a car, it turns out to be the only one of its kind ever made. When they take a picnic, they discover a secret lair of weapons and criminals. And only Chitty Chitty Bang Bang can get them out of this one!
The writing is simply delightful, with plenty of asides to the reader ("I do hope this isn't the first French word you've ever learned" and "transmogrifications (which is just a fancy word for big changes)"). It reminded me a great deal of Roald Dahl's exuberant and show more comic style. Occasionally Fleming uses lots of EXCLAMATION POINTS AND CAPITAL LETTERS!!!!!!! for effect, and it's quite funny. He doesn't overdo it, and I can imagine how fun it would be to read this story aloud to children with the exaggerated drama those exclamation points and capital letters imply.
I think I saw the movie a long time ago and though I barely remember it, I do think it's quite a bit different from the story of the book. Stick with the book — it's humorous, well-written, and imaginative. show less
The writing is simply delightful, with plenty of asides to the reader ("I do hope this isn't the first French word you've ever learned" and "transmogrifications (which is just a fancy word for big changes)"). It reminded me a great deal of Roald Dahl's exuberant and show more comic style. Occasionally Fleming uses lots of EXCLAMATION POINTS AND CAPITAL LETTERS!!!!!!! for effect, and it's quite funny. He doesn't overdo it, and I can imagine how fun it would be to read this story aloud to children with the exaggerated drama those exclamation points and capital letters imply.
I think I saw the movie a long time ago and though I barely remember it, I do think it's quite a bit different from the story of the book. Stick with the book — it's humorous, well-written, and imaginative. show less
My grown, newly married daughter spent the weekend with me and, spontaneously, recalled the "Toot Sweet" song, but could not recall the film, which I rather quickly identified as CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968). We had last watched the film together perhaps twenty years ago. I found it on streaming and put it on. The only difference now compared to then was that she snuggled up into the arms of her new husband rather than in mine. But I was fine with that
(mostly). He's a fine young man and loves her dearly. 🙂
Neither knew, as I had similarly been surprised to discover as an adult, that the tale's author is none other than Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. I had the pleasure of surprising them with this fact. But I then realized, show more I had never read his CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG stories. The next day, I corrected this, wondering how this famed author of the quintessential spy novel would write, in essence, a children's story.
Very well, it turns out.
Through the use of an omnipresent, omniscient "fatherly" narrator, Fleming recounts three consecutive adventures of the Potts family and their magical car -- one significantly different from that of the film but as thoroughly enjoyable. Magical car? Well, the Potts children in the book noticed what I did not, and, while present in the film, is not mentioned: the front plate of the car reads "GEN II" -- not "Generation Two," as I had lazily thought in the back of my mind while watching the film, but "Genii" as in 🧞 in a bottle. I.e., "Magic."
And, being the author of James Bond, Mr. Fleming in the second and third "adventures" that compose this novel, has the Potts family facing an international criminal group of thieves, smugglers, and kidnappers. 😄
That Fleming is able to convey the dangers, suspense, and action, as well as the courage, bravery, and cleverness of the Potts family -- well, that of the father, former Naval Commander "Potts, Caractacus Potts", as it were 😉, and his two children (Mrs. Potts is stereotypically depicted as a worrying mother, unfortunately) -- makes for a positive, thrilling story for both young and young-at-heart readers.
The public domain ebook editions that I read for expediency, lack, due to copyright restrictions, John Broadman's original illustrations that accompanied the presented text. When, kein en hora, there are grandchildren with whom to share both the film and the book, I will correct this omission by obtaining the print edition(s). show less
(mostly). He's a fine young man and loves her dearly. 🙂
Neither knew, as I had similarly been surprised to discover as an adult, that the tale's author is none other than Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. I had the pleasure of surprising them with this fact. But I then realized, show more I had never read his CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG stories. The next day, I corrected this, wondering how this famed author of the quintessential spy novel would write, in essence, a children's story.
Very well, it turns out.
Through the use of an omnipresent, omniscient "fatherly" narrator, Fleming recounts three consecutive adventures of the Potts family and their magical car -- one significantly different from that of the film but as thoroughly enjoyable. Magical car? Well, the Potts children in the book noticed what I did not, and, while present in the film, is not mentioned: the front plate of the car reads "GEN II" -- not "Generation Two," as I had lazily thought in the back of my mind while watching the film, but "Genii" as in 🧞 in a bottle. I.e., "Magic."
And, being the author of James Bond, Mr. Fleming in the second and third "adventures" that compose this novel, has the Potts family facing an international criminal group of thieves, smugglers, and kidnappers. 😄
That Fleming is able to convey the dangers, suspense, and action, as well as the courage, bravery, and cleverness of the Potts family -- well, that of the father, former Naval Commander "Potts, Caractacus Potts", as it were 😉, and his two children (Mrs. Potts is stereotypically depicted as a worrying mother, unfortunately) -- makes for a positive, thrilling story for both young and young-at-heart readers.
The public domain ebook editions that I read for expediency, lack, due to copyright restrictions, John Broadman's original illustrations that accompanied the presented text. When, kein en hora, there are grandchildren with whom to share both the film and the book, I will correct this omission by obtaining the print edition(s). show less
I watched the movie Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang as a child and have vaguely fun and yet confusing memories of it. To this day I still find some of the tunes from the movie jumping into my head at random. Years later I was told that the original book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang was written by Ian Fleming...yes, the same Ian Fleming who was the creator of James Bond. Naturally my curiosity was aroused. From a very high level, it's not surprising to see both James Bond and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang as being creations of the same author. Both feature some crazy high-tech gadgets and exciting adventures dealing with spies or thugs across multiple countries. Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is just written for children while James Bond was written for adults.
I show more read Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang along with my 9 year old daughter. I haven't seen the movie in many years. She watched it a few months ago. As we started reading, it was quickly apparent some of the differences between the movie and the novel. Strangely enough, after the movie was released and widely enjoyed, they decided to make a "novelization" of the movie version of the story...which goes to show the large amount of differences present. They couldn't simply push film-goers towards the original novel...they actually wrote a new novel based on the film. Strange fun indeed.
As to the original book of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car, it starts off introducing us to Caractacus Pott and his family. Caractacus is an inventor who loves to invent but doesn't always find much financial success as a result. His wife and two children are very supportive and they enjoy his quirks and fun almost as much as he does. As in the movie, Caractacus invents the "Toot Sweet" and sells it to a candy shop. He has more success in the book, however, and with the money he earns, the family decides to buy a car. They find Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang in a scrapyard and immediately all four of them fall in love with it. Pott takes it home and spends hours/days in his workshop fixing it up.
I loved the narrative style of the book. It was written to be read aloud or at least for the reader to be very cognizant of the narrator's voice. The narrator speaks to the reader, adds additional commentary outside the scope of the main plot and asks questions about the reader's knowledge or thoughts on a particular point. As I read the book aloud to my daughter, I tried to be sure to add the inflections of the narrator as I read to try and draw her in to answering the questions or commenting on the points the narrator made. In reading the book I pictured the narrator as an extension of Ian Fleming and the style existing to put for the feeling of Fleming reading the story to his own children.
As the plot continues, the family finds out more about the very special and magical qualities of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Not only does the car possess special transformative properties (changing into a boat or a plane) but it also seems to have a true mind of its own. It seems to think and feel. And it certainly seems to recognize and love its new family.
The family head off on what should be a simple and fun family picnic at the beach. But after traffic jams, bad turns, rising tides and bad weather, they find themselves lost and on the verge of new trouble as the family stumbles into a gangster hideout. I loved the sense of adventure mixed with the nervous anxiety of wondering just what might happen next. I love the reckless and whimsical attitude of the father as he disregards the danger when forced to choose between making a safe choice or making the right choice...the "good" choice.
As the adventure continues, the children find themselves in the thick of it. And in true "children's literature" style, they do whatever they can to solve the problems on their own and be the heroes of the story. At the same time, the book is titled "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" so it's only natural that the car should also share in the heroics (with the aid of his adult drivers).
The edition I read had some cute, whimsical illustrations. I'm told that the original publication (and early reprints) had tons of absolutely wonderful illustrations. I certainly can't discount the fun pictures in the version I read, but I am interested in finding some of the original illustrations, just for enjoyment sake. My daughter loved keeping an eye out for the pictures and made sure I paused and gave her time to study the images intently when they showed up.
All in all this is a simple story and a quick read, which is what should be expected from a children's book. In some ways it's a little dated since some of the concepts and technology are obsolete or incredibly improved in our modern day. Still, it is a very clever and fun story with a lot of ingenuity and imagination. The plot is fresh and fun and definitely enjoyable to younger readers and to adults willing to step back into simpler memories. The thugs and gangsters are definite caricatures and as such it's hard to have any real fear for the safety of the family. Though to a child, just the idea of a gangster or criminal poses enough danger to give the proper degree of tension.
The story is absolutely charming. The narrative writing style is very fun and lovable. The characters are great fun and the lessons learned are entertaining. Overall this is a great heartfelt story that is worth reading with kids and reading again as an adult. Even if you've seen the movie, this book is different enough that you should find plenty of new entertainment. And if you haven't seen the movie, that's another avenue to explore after reading the book. Either way, there's plenty of opportunity for good clean family fun.
****
4 out of 5 stars show less
I show more read Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang along with my 9 year old daughter. I haven't seen the movie in many years. She watched it a few months ago. As we started reading, it was quickly apparent some of the differences between the movie and the novel. Strangely enough, after the movie was released and widely enjoyed, they decided to make a "novelization" of the movie version of the story...which goes to show the large amount of differences present. They couldn't simply push film-goers towards the original novel...they actually wrote a new novel based on the film. Strange fun indeed.
As to the original book of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car, it starts off introducing us to Caractacus Pott and his family. Caractacus is an inventor who loves to invent but doesn't always find much financial success as a result. His wife and two children are very supportive and they enjoy his quirks and fun almost as much as he does. As in the movie, Caractacus invents the "Toot Sweet" and sells it to a candy shop. He has more success in the book, however, and with the money he earns, the family decides to buy a car. They find Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang in a scrapyard and immediately all four of them fall in love with it. Pott takes it home and spends hours/days in his workshop fixing it up.
I loved the narrative style of the book. It was written to be read aloud or at least for the reader to be very cognizant of the narrator's voice. The narrator speaks to the reader, adds additional commentary outside the scope of the main plot and asks questions about the reader's knowledge or thoughts on a particular point. As I read the book aloud to my daughter, I tried to be sure to add the inflections of the narrator as I read to try and draw her in to answering the questions or commenting on the points the narrator made. In reading the book I pictured the narrator as an extension of Ian Fleming and the style existing to put for the feeling of Fleming reading the story to his own children.
As the plot continues, the family finds out more about the very special and magical qualities of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Not only does the car possess special transformative properties (changing into a boat or a plane) but it also seems to have a true mind of its own. It seems to think and feel. And it certainly seems to recognize and love its new family.
The family head off on what should be a simple and fun family picnic at the beach. But after traffic jams, bad turns, rising tides and bad weather, they find themselves lost and on the verge of new trouble as the family stumbles into a gangster hideout. I loved the sense of adventure mixed with the nervous anxiety of wondering just what might happen next. I love the reckless and whimsical attitude of the father as he disregards the danger when forced to choose between making a safe choice or making the right choice...the "good" choice.
As the adventure continues, the children find themselves in the thick of it. And in true "children's literature" style, they do whatever they can to solve the problems on their own and be the heroes of the story. At the same time, the book is titled "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" so it's only natural that the car should also share in the heroics (with the aid of his adult drivers).
The edition I read had some cute, whimsical illustrations. I'm told that the original publication (and early reprints) had tons of absolutely wonderful illustrations. I certainly can't discount the fun pictures in the version I read, but I am interested in finding some of the original illustrations, just for enjoyment sake. My daughter loved keeping an eye out for the pictures and made sure I paused and gave her time to study the images intently when they showed up.
All in all this is a simple story and a quick read, which is what should be expected from a children's book. In some ways it's a little dated since some of the concepts and technology are obsolete or incredibly improved in our modern day. Still, it is a very clever and fun story with a lot of ingenuity and imagination. The plot is fresh and fun and definitely enjoyable to younger readers and to adults willing to step back into simpler memories. The thugs and gangsters are definite caricatures and as such it's hard to have any real fear for the safety of the family. Though to a child, just the idea of a gangster or criminal poses enough danger to give the proper degree of tension.
The story is absolutely charming. The narrative writing style is very fun and lovable. The characters are great fun and the lessons learned are entertaining. Overall this is a great heartfelt story that is worth reading with kids and reading again as an adult. Even if you've seen the movie, this book is different enough that you should find plenty of new entertainment. And if you haven't seen the movie, that's another avenue to explore after reading the book. Either way, there's plenty of opportunity for good clean family fun.
****
4 out of 5 stars show less
I grew up watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang once or twice a year as kid (despite the truly terrifying child catcher) but somehow didn't realize that they were based on books that Ian Fleming had written for children. However, while browsing my library's Libby collection for audiobooks narrated by David Tennant, I discovered the existence of the books and opted to give the first one a try. Tennant's narration is fantastic as always. The source material, on the other hand, is very of its time. This has decided boys' adventure stories from the mid-twentieth century vibes. Fleming crafts his tale around the Pott family: Commander Caractacus, the father is truly the central character here with his wife, Mimsy, and twins, Jeremy and Jemimah, show more largely floating in his wake (as a longtime fan of the film, I was surprised that the twins HAD a mother rather than Truly Scrumptious arriving early on and I missed the grandfather character greatly). Of course, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a central character as well and there is probably more details about car parts and operation than the average child would find of interest. That said, this has plenty of fun with the car flying the family to the beach when they get stuck in a traffic jam and then turning into a boat and crossing the channel where they encounter British gangsters in France and end up getting into a bit of a scrape. Would probably still hold appeal for the right kiddo and while I don't regret the ear read, I'm not sure I'll try more, even with David Tennant's amazing narration. show less
❧ audiobook review
Okay, this was super cute. I saw the film as a kid (and somehow didn't realise that the movie was co-written by Roald Dahl???) and I knew it was based on a book (and somehow didn't know it was by James Bond's writer! I'm a loser, honestly) but I never got around to it. So glad I finally have. I think it's lovely that this was written for Ian Fleming's son. Reminds me of C.S. Lewis' dedication to his goddaughter: But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
SUPER. CUTE.
And the fact that David Tennant narrated the audiobook just solidifies its awesomeness. His voices are PERFECTION.
Okay, this was super cute. I saw the film as a kid (and somehow didn't realise that the movie was co-written by Roald Dahl???) and I knew it was based on a book (and somehow didn't know it was by James Bond's writer! I'm a loser, honestly) but I never got around to it. So glad I finally have. I think it's lovely that this was written for Ian Fleming's son. Reminds me of C.S. Lewis' dedication to his goddaughter: But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
SUPER. CUTE.
And the fact that David Tennant narrated the audiobook just solidifies its awesomeness. His voices are PERFECTION.
I have been on a Bond binge for several weeks and decided to mix it up bey reading Ian Fleming's only children's book. I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting it to be a bit ridiculous, but its actually as realistic and hard nosed as a children's story about a magic flying car can be. I enjoyed as an adult and think I would have really liked it as a child.
It has aged quite well. The villains are bank robbers, which is a trade in serious decline, and the open top roadster was dated when Fleming wrote this, but the combination still works. I think that the flying car has lost some of its attraction for adults. The 50s-60s seem to have had a fascination with the possibility. I don't think the same is true of children. What little boy show more does't occasionally think about a flying car, even today? show less
It has aged quite well. The villains are bank robbers, which is a trade in serious decline, and the open top roadster was dated when Fleming wrote this, but the combination still works. I think that the flying car has lost some of its attraction for adults. The 50s-60s seem to have had a fascination with the possibility. I don't think the same is true of children. What little boy show more does't occasionally think about a flying car, even today? show less
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Favorite Childhood Books
1,646 works; 517 members
1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
774 works; 100 members
Read the book and saw the movie
1,170 works; 193 members
Honey For a Child's Heart
1,152 works; 25 members
Sonlight Books
1,487 works; 25 members
CCE 1000 Good Books List
1,033 works; 12 members
1960s, Best books published therein
254 works; 22 members
AR Level 6 in cloudLibrary
77 works; 1 member
1964 Project
114 works; 1 member
Books Read in 2020
4,379 works; 124 members
Works Referenced in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
122 works; 6 members
End of Your Life Book Club
134 works; 4 members
Authors from England
147 works; 4 members
Kidnapping -- children's/young adult fiction
598 works; 3 members
Satori Smiles Children's Book List
262 works; 7 members
Children's Books by Adult Authors
26 works; 2 members
Favorite Kids Books (chapter, middle grade)
168 works; 4 members
Author Information
253+ Works 56,041 Members
Ian Lancaster Fleming was born on May 28, 1908, in London, England. He attended Eton College and then the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He left there after a year to go study languages in Munich and Geneva. Fleming served as the Moscow correspondent for the Reuters News Agency from 1929 till 1933. he then became a banker and a stockholder show more in London until the beginning of World War II. When the war began, Fleming became the personal assistant to the Director of British Naval Intelligence, where he learned most of his espionage terms. When the war was over, he worked as the foreign manager of The Sunday Times in London. Fleming wrote twelve James Bond novels, nearly all of which were made into Motion Pictures. His works included: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, and For Your eyes Only. He of died of a heart attack on August 12, 1964. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Ian Fleming has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
- Original title
- Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car
- Alternate titles
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Original publication date
- 1964
- People/Characters
- Edison (dog); Commander Pott
- Related movies
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968 | IMDb)
- First words
- Most motor–cars are conglomerations (this is a long word for bundles) of steel and wire and rubber and plastic, and electricity and oil and petrol and water, and the toffee papers you pushed down the crack in the back seat ... (show all)last Sunday.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And no one - not one of the dozing family - noticed that the wheels of CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG were slowly, inch by inch, being submerged by the incoming tide, and no one realized that soon, very very soon, the whole family, Commander Pott, Mimsie, Jeremy and Jemima - and CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG, who by now was really a member of the family too - would be marooned out in the middle of the sea - threatened with mortal danger!
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Children's Books, Kids
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .F5997 .C — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 2,505
- Popularity
- 7,664
- Reviews
- 49
- Rating
- (3.77)
- Languages
- 10 — Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 83
- ASINs
- 55