Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is reborn as a camper van! I enjoyed this fun story of a family that travels on wild adventures in their willful flying van. The book is definitely a sequel to Ian Fleming's original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and although it stands alone, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much if I hadn't just read the original. I also enjoyed the nod to Fleming's James Bond series, with a decidedly Bond-esque villain and a snazzy Aston Martin that keeps getting shot at. ( )

This book is great! Better even than the original! Terrific adventure and terrible suspense. And most important lots of laughs. Delightful illustrations with a multiracial family. This is a must read. I will buy multiple copies for my library so that everyone will get a chance to read it. ( )

Before starting in on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again by Frank Cottrell Boyce , read the introduction. Boyce explains why he wrote this sequel and why he wrote it the way he did. Boyce, like I think many people of our generation, saw the movie before reading the book, and was shocked by how little the movie resembled Ian Fleming's book. The only thing the book and the movie agreed on was the make of the car and the fact that it could fly of its own accord.

Boyce goes one further — deciding that it could be any model of flying car. Well, not exactly, but the Tooting's vehicle of choice is one of those old air cooled VW bus — something vintage with the movie. I have to admit that a flying VW bus gave me pause but Boyce trundles on with the comedic confidence you'll find from the likes of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. And he pulls it off.

In all fairness to the cover art — the Tootings don't start off with a flying car (or a VW bus). Both come over the course of the first third of the novel. The bus is part midlife crisis and part family hobby, a means to a family vacation on an extreme budget after dear old dad is made redundant.

The remainder of the book is the adventure itself — some of which involves flying. There are baddies who are a stylistic compromise between the straight up gangster types of Fleming's book and the more magical (surreal) baddies of the film.

And, just as the film broke for Boyce, right as things were getting really interesting, the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. As this is a book about a flying car, the cliffhanger is rather literal.

The relaunch continues (thankfully!) with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race Against Time (March 2013) ( )

Who better than Frank Cottrell Boyce to write the continuing story of Ian Fleming's 1964 [b:Chitty Chitty Bang Bang|576335|Chitty Chitty Bang Bang|Ian Fleming|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175950916s/576335.jpg|2245507]? This time, a contemporary family of five called the Tootings are on the receiving end of Chitty's love of adventure. Dad, recently laid off from the Very Small Parts for Very Big Machines Company, is at loose ends. After his efforts at home improvement are a flop, Mom brings home an old 1966 camper for him to restore. Together, he and Jem get it running again, but things really start happening when the two discover an old super-charged engine at a junkyard and replace the original engine with this one. As the Tooting family takes off on a roadtrip, it quickly becomes apparent that Chitty is calling the shots on where they go and how they get there. The souped-up car flies them to Paris, where they create quite a buzz by landing on the Eiffel Tower. From there, it's off to Egypt, a run-in with some bank robbers, an undersea adventure with a colossal squid, and more. The family interactions are a hoot, and the spot art by Joe Berger adds to the zany fun. A terrific read-aloud for grades 3-5.
( )

I really enjoy Frank Cottrell Boyce's books, and this did not disappoint. It's very funny. This one is written for a slightly younger reader -- perhaps 4th grade and up. The Tooting family has a change of fortune when the father loses his job, so they decide to travel the world. To do so, they buy an old camper and the dad and son Jem work for months fixing it up. Once they start on their journey, things get weird. The car seems to have a mind of its own, and miraculously it even flies without their knowing it could. It flies them to the top of the Eiffel Tower, where they are almost arrested until the dad says something romantic about his wife and the whole of Paris instantly melts (including the police). They also visit the Sphinx in Egypt and Madagascar. Ultimately, it's a great romp. ( )