Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89  ·  rating details  ·  3,919 ratings  ·  236 reviews
Ian Fleming, best known for his James Bond novels, wrote only one children’s book—and it is a classic! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the name of the flying, floating, driving-by-itself automobile that takes the Pott family on a riotous series of adventures as they try to capture a notorious gang of robbers. This is a story filled with humor, adventure, and gadgetry that only...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published April 26th 2005 by Random House Books for Young Readers (first published January 1st 1964)
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Glenn Whelan
Fun with our fine four fendered friend...

Most people that would be reading this book today are familiar with the Dick Van Dyke vehicle of the same name. A smaller percentage of them may also be aware that the source material is originally penned by James Bond author Ian Fleming. The connection to 007 seems a logical one. A flying car with super gadgets called upon at the press of a button. Who else but James bond could have a relationship with a woman named Truly Scrumptious.

After a quick read o...more
Lynn
Jul 26, 2007 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: boys
Shelves: childrens
What a surprise to find just how different the movie is from the book! This is very much Ian Flemming, focused on the car and the adventure. There is no 'Truly Scrumptious'; there is no weird castle with singing toys and a king who hates kids. There IS a wonderful magical car, and exact descriptions of what it does. There IS a great adventure with a trip to France and a scary thief. A great book for boys, and it stands the test of time.

This was Ian Flemming's last book before he died, and his on...more
Kristi Bernard
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the name of a car. But, she is no ordinary car. You see, she has a grand history as a race car and a very famous one at that. She also was a part of a very curious family known as the Potts. They brought her back to life after saving her from the scrap yard. There was Commander Caractacus Pott, his wife Mimsie, and the twins Jeremy and Jemima. The commander was an inventor and known in his community as “Crack Pot” but he didn't mind. The day finally arrived when this m...more
Chris
May 18, 2013 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: i-own
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...more
Cruth
Author: Ian Fleming
Illustrator: Joe Berger
First Published: 1964
Original Illustrations: John Burningham

Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, wrote only one children's book, while recovering from heart attack. Fleming died from a further heart attack on 11 August 1964, 2 months before "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" was published. Published in three volumes over four months, it was released as a single volume in 1968.

A fun, simple story with a light adventure and a few scary bits, Fleming fills the bo...more
Valerie
I think that different editions of this book must vary widely, so I tried to find the one that looked the most like the one I'd read.

When I read the book I hadn't seen the movie. Since then I have. The edition I read seems to have been a novelization of the movie, rather than the original book.

I don't know if this IS the edition I read. But I liked quite a few of the elements. The inventor invents other things besides cars, and many of them are intended for his children. I found the travel to a...more
Penny Peck
The new follow-up to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Frank Cottrell Boyce, sent me back to original to see how they compare. I was struck by the brevity – the original Chitty is 114 pages in length, written in three long chapters. The original British version was actually published in three volumes. The U.S. version also had plenty of ink illustrations, something that would be welcome in more novels for readers in grades 3 to 6. Roald Dahl’s books also had a fair amount of random illustrations in eac...more
Bobscopatz
Our kids LOVE this movie. I appreciate it as well, but the Disneyfication of it turns out is really appalling in comparison to the original novel. I'm not saying that someone SHOULD make a movie that is more true to the book, but I do think that it would end up being a better movie overall. Especially since it would lack the execrable song "You're my little Schmoopy Face" (or whatever that title is.

At any rate, this book is a fast read. It's about the level for a 7-year-old, I imagine. Our kids...more
Dan
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is an odd combination of age appropriateness. The short length, coherent chapter arcs that exist as short stories in their own right, and simple plot are perfect for younger children. Fleming does a good deal of stage whispering that is also something more common in younger children's narratives. Yet he introduces several elements of "mortal danger!!" that small children may find frightening, especially in the final chapters, that reads like a simple Nancy Drew or Hardy B...more
Jonathan

Once upon a time there was a young boy named Jonathan Terrington. He didn't have any magical abilities save for the power of his imagination and what he could gain from reading and watching incredible movies. Some of his favourite childhood movies and books were all fairytales. He particularly liked more modern 'fairytales' like Toy Story or Mulan. Then one day he discovered a fairytale movie he'd never watched before. A movie about a magical car that travelled away to a fascinating land with b...more
Colin Kinlund
May 13, 2007 Colin Kinlund rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who wanted a flying car
Another classic I treasured, and another Disney adaptation I loathed. The movie is similar to the book in that there is a car with the given name of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In fairness though, this is a very short story, with only three chapters (each fairly long chapter being one act), and would have been very difficult to do as a movie. But still, this is vastly more entertaining, inventive and scary than the movie. And I still want a toot-sweet to this day.
Sam Woodfield
I thought I knew the story of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang being a huge fan of the musical, and so this book really took me by surprise.
The story follows the Pott family as they buy their first car - a car full of mystery which will take them on a journey across the sea and place them in grave danger. However, with the help of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the family escape unscathed and help to catch a notorious criminal for good measure.
This is a really lovely little story, which Fleming tells so well....more
Miles
A fun, quick read-out-loud book that I read with my 11-year-old daughter. It's fast-paced and engaging, as you'd expect from the creator of James Bond. I must admit to being partial, having loved the movie as a kid. It was interesting for me to see how much Roald Dahl added to Fleming's book for the screenplay of the movie (and the musical - the book contains no Truly Scrumptious, Grandpa Pott, Child Catcher, Toymaker or Baron Bomburst). Still, the heart of the book is the adventurous family, th...more
Gale
FANTASY HUMOR IN HIGH GEAR

This book is perfect for your summer Escape into pure Fantasy--KID LITE enough to fly!!! This is a very special car--one of a kind both in chassis and heart--not to mention that it actually thinks, has feelings and gives orders to the driver when necessary. Yet totally unselfish--only with the owner's best interests in mind.
This almost-defunct car which barely missed the wrecker yard shows its gratitude to the Pott family many times over, for she possesses Super-Mecha...more
Anna
My family listened to this on the road trip to St Louis and loved it. The story is perfect for a car full of boys, with lots of details about inventions and the features of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, not to mention the discovery of a stash of guns and bombs. The man who reads the book does a nice job of reading in a way that is really entertaining to kids. It's perfect long car ride material.
Kristina Seleshanko
Set aside any thoughts of the movie starring Dick Van Dyke. The original book by Ian Flemming is 99% different.

In the Flemming story, Mr. Potts and his wife come into a little money after selling a unique candy to a manufacturer. They decide to buy their first car. Potts finds an old, not-working race car, buys her, and the whole family (Dad, Mom, a boy and a girl) fixes her up. Despite the fact that Mr. Potts is an inventor, the car already has lots of features he doesn't understand and he doe...more
Tracey
Picked this up from the library to prep for a project; I'm sure I must have read this at some point in my life, but I honestly don't recall the story.

The plot of this slim volume varies considerably from the movie - the wife of Caractus Potts is alive and well, and the main adventure deals with gangsters, not spies and dictators - and has some excellent dry British wit.

Having recently read two James Bond novels ( Casino Royale and Live and Let Die) - also for the first time, I could see some s...more
Megan
In short, it's a book about a magical automotive marvel, a car that's been engineered to transform into both an airplane and a speedboat. The car also thinks and feels! It's a brilliant book, absolutely brilliant! It's clever, witty, fantastical, and humorous, and it's such a madcap caper, you can't tell where Fleming's heading next with the plot, which is exactly what you want in a children's book. Fleming's writing is especially engaging because of the little "asides" that his omniscient narra...more
Marsha
The Potts have acquired a new car—a beat-up, sadly neglected, rusty green Paragon Panther. Once a noble racecar, the only one of its kind ever built, it has fallen into disrepair and is destined for the scrap heap. But the Potts see something special in this car. At least, it’ll be different from all the other beetle cars out there that all look alike from the front or back, so you can’t tell whether they’re coming or going.

This is a classical children’s tale about a family’s favorite car and su...more
Arjun Mishra
It is important to read children's literature, no matter your age, stage of life, maturity, etc. Good children's literature speaks to adults and conveys moral lessons and wisdom to all ages. This same theme is evident in many Disney movies and is salient in Bugs Bunny, where the humor and lessons are available to children, but part of the overall parcel of layers for adults. Fleming deviates from his normal style of writing and Bond thrillers to a children's adventure book, which contains many o...more
Maggie Wolfe Riley
This book was my first experience with loving a book, then being horribly disappointed in the movie. I read this book before it was a movie - something like 4th grade, and I loved it! Fun, adventure, mystery, and good writing (to my 9 or 10 year old mind, anyway!) Then I remember being excited that they were making a movie of it - and imagine my disappointment when it was a ~musical~ starring Dick van Dyke! It wasn't anything ~like~ the book, and they not only changed the plot, they changed the...more
K
Feb 03, 2009 K rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ages 7-8
Shelves: childrens
Had never seen the movie, so did not know what this book was actually about (in my mind, I confused it with Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which I also haven't seen).

It turns out to be about a family's adventures with their magical, sentient car, which they name Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, after the sound she makes starting up. Ian Fleming tells this slight, jolly story with many capital letters for emphasis. As you might expect from the creator of James Bond, there were some explosions, encounters with...more
Charity
Audio book on CD - lovely! The voice actor is spectacular and I enjoyed the story immensely. The film is loosely based on this light-hearted book. (No child napper, no widowed Mr. Potts - their mother is alive and well! - and no Grandpa Potts either, no mysterious childless land with a spoiled king.) The book does have some spooky scenes, bad guys and a kid-napping scene that I chose to skip for my 5 year old daughter. She enjoyed the first half, and doesn't seem to realize the story continues a...more
Jack Cheng
Read this to my son (6); my daughter (4) lost interest pretty quickly. Like the movie, and like other books by Fleming, there is a magical car that can fly and do other remarkable things. Not much else is similar to the movie, but lots that recall the Bond books: a secret hideout in a cave, an international gang of mobsters, and a girl named Pus--no, just kidding on the last bit. It's been years since I read Casino Royale, but I remember the writing to be similarly clunky (lots of adverbs, lots...more
oriana
Jan 12, 2008 oriana marked it as to-read
Holy crap this movie was so much better than I remembered it. And even more insane is that it's based on a book by Ian Flemming???

This... this I gotta see.
Life Between Coffee Spoons
It was disappointing and surprising when I finished this book and didn't like it. I genuinely tried to set aside my knowledge and love of the movie, which was successful, but even that didn't help. It seems silly to say a book about a flying car was over the top, but it's the truth. The situations were too silly to be seen as realistic, and yet too grounded in reality to overlook their silliness.

That being said, it is easy to see how some children (especially boys) would find this book engrossin...more
Jerry Peterson
It's hard to believe that Ian Fleming, who wrote the sexy, sophisticated, violent James Bond spy novels, also wrote one of the best-loved children's stories, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Most of us know it from the 1968 movie musical that starred Dick Van Dyke. Fleming wrote "Chitty Chitty" while he was recovering from a heart attack in 1961. The writing provided him with something to do. For inspiration, Fleming drew on a bedtime story he had been telling his son, Caspar.

The book came out in 1964...more
Jen
I must be one of the few of my generation that has never seen this, and my expectations going into the book were fairly low. I thought it would be a cutsie kids' book and that's all. I found that I was listening to the audiobook by myself in the car, looking forward to the next time I had to run errands or something so I could listen to it again!

It's a kids' book for sure, but it's just a delightful and engaging and innocent story. The actor who read it (can't remember his name--from "Fawlty To...more
Lisa
I enjoyed this book. The writing style was fun and clever. At just over 100 pages this is a quick read. The book has virtually nothing in common with the movie musical. It was interesting to see how much had been changed,

The book is definitely plot driven with lots of adventure. I did miss the fleshing out of the characters. Although they are totally different, it is hard not to compare the book and the movie, especially since the movie is so well known. I must say that the film had a lot strong...more
Julie H.
We recently re-read this book at our house as a way of celebrating National Read Aloud Day (1/19/2012). While quite dated in many respects, it's still a fun read--particularly given the number of times one fantasizes about a flying car while trying to keep one's temper when stuck in traffic. I had quite forgotten the fact that the recipe for M. Bon-Bon's secret "fooj" was provided at the book's close. Proof positive that we can benefit from returning to some of our well-loved stories from childh...more
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Ian^Fleming
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Second World War Navy Commander. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling his adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories. Additionally, Fleming wrote the...more
More about Ian Fleming...
Casino Royale (James Bond, #1) From Russia With Love (James Bond, #5) Goldfinger (James Bond, #7) Live and Let Die (James Bond, #2) Doctor No (James Bond, #6)

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