The Boy In The Dress (novel)

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''The Boy In The Dress'' is a children's book written by

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Br ...

and illustrated by

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

. It is the first book by Walliams, a television comedian best known for the cult

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

show '' Little Britain''. It tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy called John and a twelve-year-old boy called Dennis who is encouraged by a rebellious friend to dress up as a girl, and the reactions of his family, friends and school. It is aimed at readers aged eight to twelve, and has been adapted into a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

and a musical.

Plot

The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Dennis and his 14-year-old brother John, whose parents divorced when Dennis was only 7. The boys remain with their father, who resorts to comfort eating after his wife leaves. Dennis is talented in football and is one of the best on his team. However, he deeply misses his mother, who left their family about five years ago, and finds comfort remembering his mother's yellow dress in an old picture. Dennis sees the same dress on the cover of a ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' magazine and buys a copy from Raj, the local shop owner. But when Dad finds the magazine, he is furious and forces Dennis to throw it away, while John teases him by calling him "Denise". At school that day, Dennis is given detention for kicking a football through an office window. While in detention, he talks to a girl named Lisa James, the prettiest and most fashionable girl in the school. Lisa invites him over to her house, showing Dennis her collection of Vogue magazines and dressing him up in girls' clothing. The two decide to go out in public, with Dennis in an electric blue dress, under the alter ego of "Denise", a French exchange student who speaks very little English. They go to Raj's corner shop. Raj does not recognise Dennis, believing he is "Denise". Later on, they meet a friend of Lisa's named Mac, and he was so impressed by "Denise" that he asks "Denise" on a date, not knowing that it was actually Dennis. Following their success in fooling Raj and Mac, Dennis goes to school with Lisa as "Denise". In French class, the teacher starts speaking to Dennis in French (which he does not understand), and he ends up criticizing her French accent as a last resort, upsetting her in the progress. At breaktime, Dennis attempts to kick a football, slips, and his disguise falls off. Mr Hawtrey, the headmaster, gets furious and expels him from the school for cross-dressing, forcing Dennis to miss out on playing in an important football match. Dad is enraged and sends Dennis to his room. Darvesh, Dennis's best friend, comes over but is sent back to his home by Dad. Later in the night, Lisa climbs up to Dennis's window and promises him that she'll find a way to get him back in school. Persuaded by Darvesh, Dennis attends the game anyway. Maudlin Street, the rival football team, has won the trophy for the past 3 years and holds a notorious reputation for playing rough and dirty. Without Dennis, the "star striker", the Maudlin Street team was way ahead with a score of 6-0, and defeat seemed bound to happen. Right after the first half finishes, Lisa gets up, tells Mac she "needs a hand" and leaves with him. As the second half starts, Lisa opens the changing room door to reveal all the boys on the school's team — including Dennis — wearing all the dresses from her wardrobe. The game starts, and the school's team starts playing in dresses. Dennis immediately scores 2 goals and is "a hundred times happier than he had ever been". With Dennis playing in the team, the score rises from 6-0 to 6-6, and victory was almost near — until one of the Maudlin Street players intentionally injures Dennis, leaving him lying on the ground in pain. It was then that Dennis's dad appears, much to Dennis's surprise, and starts cheering Dennis on. The game ends with a win for the school's team, and everyone celebrates. Mr Hawtrey is still adamant on having Dennis expelled, however, but Dennis's dad steps up and defends him from Mr. Hawtrey. Later on, Dennis returns the dress to Lisa and thanks her for "opening his eyes". For a moment, he contemplated confessing his profound affection for Lisa, but in the end, he doesn't and leaves it at "I'll tell you when I'm older". On the way home, Raj informs Dennis that Mr. Hawtrey's sister, Ms. Doris, now buys the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'' instead of him and adds that there is "something funny about her". Lisa and Dennis go to Raj's shop the next morning and find out that Ms. Doris is actually Mr Hawtrey cross-dressing in a skirt. The two threaten that unless Dennis is readmitted to the school, they would tell everyone about Mr Hawtrey's cross-dressing habits. Mr Hawtrey gives in and agrees to reinstate Dennis. At the end of the story, Dennis, his dad, and his brother get over the pain of the loss of Dennis's mother, Dennis and Lisa stay good friends, and John starts to look out for his younger brother more.

Characters

* Dennis Sims - A 12-year-old boy who lives with his father and his brother John. His mother left home several years ago and has never been heard from since. He is a pupil at Elm Forest School, and is the star player in the school football team. Dennis' best friend is Darvesh. * John Sims – Dennis' 14-year-old brother who is also a pupil at Elm Forest School. * Dad – Dennis and John's father, whose name is not given in the book. He works as a long-distance lorry driver. * Darvesh Singh – Dennis' best friend, who is Sikh and is also a student at Elm Forest School and in the football team. * Jaspreet Kaur – Darvesh's mother who is Sikh. * Lisa James – A 14-year-old girl who is a pupil at Elm Forest School. * Ms. Windsor – A teacher of French at Elm Forest School. * Raj – Owner of a local newspaper shop. * Mr. Hawtrey – The headteacher of Elm Forest School. * Mr. Norris - A PE teacher at Elm Forest School. * Gareth Small – A 14-year-old boy in Lisa's class who is the captain of the football team. * Mac Cribbins – A pupil at Elm Forest school who is in Lisa's class.

Literary significance and reception

Reviewers and the press noted the book's resonance with Walliams's own cross-dressing.

Philip Ardagh Philip Ardagh is an English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books. He has written more than 100 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction. During 2004 and 2005 Ardagh collaborated with Sir Pa ...

in the ''Guardian'' noted the novelty of Walliams's light-hearted approach to the themes, compared with treatments in earlier children's books on the subject like

Terence Blacker Terence Blacker FRSL (born 5 February 1948, near Hadleigh, Suffolk) is an English songwriter, author and columnist. __TOC__ Biography Blacker is the son of General Sir Cecil Blacker, and the brother of sculptor and former jockey Philip Bla ...

's 2004 title ''Boy 2 Girl''. Nicolette Jones in the ''Times'' praised Blake's illustrations and, though she called Walliams' writing "not the finest", noted "Everyone is on the side of freedom and tolerance by the end, for which the book must be applauded."

Controversy

''The Boy in the Dress'' has been the subject of some controversy. In September 2017, during the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in ...

, retailer

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

was criticised in Australia by some customers for selling the book. One customer claimed the book had an "agenda" to "groom and sexualise" children, while another accused Aldi of "child abuse", with some threatening a boycott. Other customers defended the company.

Allusions

Dennis's father tells him "No more '' Small England'', or whatever it is": a reference to a television programme previously co-written and co-performed by Walliams. French teacher Miss Windsor cuts short a school detention, hoping to get home in time to watch '' Neighbours'', although in America this reference is changed to ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

''. On page 104, it is mentioned that Lisa has a purple dress she'd copied from one she'd seen Kylie Minogue wear at an awards do.

Publication history

The book was published in hardcover by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

in October 2008, with a paperback release scheduled for May 2009. Walliams and his comedy partner

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

recorded an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

of the story, also for HarperCollins, which was released in November 2008. HarperCollins were reported to have signed Walliams for a two-book deal.

Film adaptation

A television film adaptation was produced for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, and aired on Boxing Day 2014 at 6:55pm. Filming began on 19 October 2014, according to Walliams' Official Twitter page. Casting for the film was later announced on 21 October 2014.

Stage musical adaptation

A stage musical adaption of the book was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon for in winter 2019. The musical is adapted by

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include ''Shoppin ...

, features music and lyrics by

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...

and

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

, and is directed by RSC artistic director

Gregory Doran Gregory Doran (born 24 November 1958) is an English director known for his Shakespearean work. ''The Sunday Times'' called him 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'. Doran was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RS ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy in the Dress 2008 British novels Cross-dressing in literature Children's books with LGBT themes British children's novels Novels by David Walliams HarperCollins books British novels adapted into films 2008 children's books British novels adapted into television shows