Most Popular Books by Daniel Pennac

"Things are never simple for Malaussène and his extended family of misfits and chancers," and this continues as "Queen Zabo, the redoubtable doyenne of publishing ... [convinces him] to impersonate the world''s best-loved, but hitherto anonymous author, J.L.B."--Jacket.

"Anyone who loves to read and wants our young people to develop a similar passion will savor" Better than Life "- an enchanting, beautifully written, and wise book."--Regie Routman An essential guide to helping children discover the pleasures of reading! In "Better than Life," Daniel Pennac shares the secrets that all book lovers treasure. Delving into his experiences as a parent, a writer and a teacher, he asks, how does the love of reading begin? How is it lost? And how can it be regained? This remarkable book explores simple ways to create a life-long devotion to reading: how reading aloud can ensure that a love of books beginswhy it is important that children develop a private relationship with bookswhat "The Reader''s Bill of Rights" can do to guarantee children value reading This book reads like a novel with gripping anecdotes from literature and fresh insights into creating and nurturing enthusiastic readers.

Daniel Pennac has never forgotten what it was like to be a very unsatisfactory student, nor the day one of his teachers saved his life by assigning him the task of writing a novel. This was the moment Pennac realized that no-one has to be a failure for ever. In School Blues, Pennac explores the many facets of schooling: how fear makes children reject education; how children can be captivated by inventive thinking; how consumerism has altered attitudes to learning. Haunted by memories of his own turbulent time in the classroom, Pennac enacts dialogues with his teachers, his parents and his own students, and serves up much more than a bald analysis of how young people are consistently failed by a faltering system. School Blues is not only universally applicable, but it is unquestionably a work of literature in its own right, driven by subtlety, sensitivity and a passion for pedagogy, while embracing the realities of contemporary culture.

Manuel Pereira da Ponte Martins, beloved dictator of the state of Teresina in Brazil, develops agoraphobia the day a fortune-teller predicts he will die being torn limb from limb by an angry mob. His life becomes unbearable and he decides to hire a double to stand in while he set off to enjoy himself in the fleshpots of Europe. A few years later, the barber-turned-dictator also grows tired of running the country and employs the same trick as his predecessor to leave for Hollywood. On the boat there, he introduces himself as Charlie Chaplin. But everyone is convinced that he is none other than Rudolph Valentino disguised as Chaplin. When he arrives in New York, both the real actors are waiting for him. Back in Teresina, the doubles follow one another, fooling the people with ease. When Pereira comes back, he is astonished to discover that his stand-in doesn t look anything like him and reacts in a way that can only precipitate his meeting with fate."

Benjamin Malaussène and family are far from happy when his fortune teller younger sister Thérèse marries the aristocratic Count Marie-Colbert de Roberval at a televised wedding – a ceremony from which Marie-Colbert has unceremoniously banned the madcap Malaussène clan. Two days later, Thérèse turns up in Paris’s Belleville quarter back early from their honeymoon, only to narrowly escape death as her fairground caravan is mysteriously torched to the ground. When that same day his sister Thérèse’s husband is found dead at the foot of his luxury apartment’s stairwell, Benjamin Malaussène, professional scapegoat, packs his bags ready for the police to haul him off. Only it’s Thérèse the police arrest when she refuses to disclose her whereabouts the night of her husband’s murder. Without her alibi – which might have something to do with her sudden pregnancy – it’s over to Benjamin to save the day. Family and friends join forces to leave no corner of Paris unturned in their search for the true culprit.

The Fairy Gunmother is the first of a series of novels featuring the same anti hero, Benjamin Malaussène. Pennac has created a uniquely comic, indeed deranged, story of flying bullets, battered egos - and coppers left a little perplexed.

Rescued from certain death by a kindly dog at the city dump, an abandoned puppy grows up fending for himself until he finds a home with a willful little girl. Could she be the mistress of his dreams?

"Joyful ode to reading...quirky, playful sketches to complement the author''s engaging prose. Passionate and witty." — Booklist First published in 1992, Daniel Pennac''s quirky ode to reading has sold more than a million copies in his native France. Drawing on his experiences as a child, a parent, and an inner-city teacher in Paris, the author reflects on the power of story and reminds us of our right to read anything, anywhere, anytime, so long as we are enjoying ourselves. In this translation with a foreword and illustrations by Quentin Blake, here is a guide to reading unlike any other: fresh, sympathetic, and never didactic, it is a work of literature in its own right.

A comedy on a public relations man in a department store in Paris whose job is to mollify angry customers. Benjamin Malaussene is doing splendid work until the store is bombed and people die, whereupon he becomes a suspect.

From a particularly humiliating accident at scout camp, to the final stages of terminal illness, Daniel Pennac''s warm, witty and heart-breaking novel shows the rise and fall of an ordinary man, told through his observations of his own body. It is with damp eyes (not to mention underpants) that our narrator begins his diary, seeking through it to come to terms with the demoralising quirks of his fleshy confines. Through the joys and horrors of puberty to the triumphs of adolescence, we grow to love him through every growth, leak and wound, as he finds himself developing muscles, falling in love, and then leaving school to join the French Resistance. Yet, as ever, this is only half the story. As years pass and hairs grey, everything he took for granted begins to turn against him. Tackling taboo topics with honesty and charm, Pennac''s wit remains sharp even as everything else begins to sag. This is a hugely original story of the most relatable of unlikely love stories: a human, and the body that defines him.

Analyse : Roman d''humour. Roman policier (énigme).

A classic, essential read by master storyteller Daniel Pennac, with a new foreword written by Michael Morpurgo. The wolf has lost nearly everything on his journey to the zoo, including an eye and his beloved pack. The boy too has lost much and seen many terrible things. They stand eye to eye on either side of the wolf''s enclosure and, slowly, each makes his own extraordinary story known to the other...

Jean and Germaine are the most affable couple the little village of Colle sur Loup has ever seen. A duke married to a commoner, they have no children, no jobs, and are disastrous cooks! They like to indulge in life''s small pleasures; their books, their garden, and their after-lunch naps. They live for each other, and for their love. Their simple happiness intrigues, fascinates, infuriates and is the envy of all those around them. Daniel Pennac knew Jean and Germaine well. He spent his time at their house reading, watching, learning, and, of course, trying Germaine''s catastrophic efforts in the kitchen! He''s now taken it upon himself to tell the story of those happy days, and of a love that has always captivated him.

Lecture suivie

After their umpteenth defeat at Lucky Luke’s hands, the Dalton brothers get into a big argument that ends with the four of them splitting up. They make a deal: Whoever is first to get a million dollars will be the leader of the gang. Going their separate ways, trying various schemes, each spreads his own kind of mayhem, forcing poor Lucky Luke to do four times the work to keep up with their antics !

It’s the start of the 1860s, and the Old West is changing—a change that comes as a shock to the Daltons when they’re arrested not by Lucky Luke, but by... Allan Pinkerton! The man is determined to turn bandit-hunting into a modern, rational business—even at the cost of the American people’s personal freedom. It’ll be up to Lucky Luke to ensure that the USA is protected against all evil-doers, rascals and lawmen alike...

"Benjamin Malaussene, the Belleville scapegoat, and his family of half sisters and brothers are once again the target for a series of increasingly catastrophic mishaps which culminate in his imprisonment on 21 counts of murder. Meanwhile, the real serial killer remains at large." --Book Jacket.

Kamo won''t get on a bike. Not even his friend''s grandfather''s classic. He says he has a bad feeling - it turns out he was right. As he lies in his hospital bed it seems to his friends that their funny, crazy pal is turning into someone else - someone firece and strong who can escape from anywhere.

Sujet : vous vous réveillez un matin et vous constatez que, dans la nuit, vous avez été transformé en adulte. Complètement affolé, vous vous précipitez dans la chambre de vos parents : ils ont été transformés en enfants. Racontez la suite.

La question de l''école est abordée du point de vue du mauvais élève, mêlant souvenirs autobiographiques et réflexions sur la pédagogie et les dysfonctionnements de l''institution scolaire, sur le rôle des parents et le souhait des jeunes de savoir et d''apprendre. Prix Renaudot 2007.

Essai.

Torna Daniel Pennac i la mítica família Malaussène amb una comèdia coral plena d''ironia, amb trets del millor thriller. Benjamin Malaussène, convertit en guarda de seguretat d''una editorial, està passant una temporada allunyat de París per ajudar a protegir Alceste, l''autor d''un best-seller amenaçat de mort pels seus propis familiars. Mentrestant, els joves de la tribu Malaussène passen l''estiu dispersats pel món ajudant diferents ONG. A París, un important empresari corrupte ha estat segrestat, i la jutgessa Talvern, germana petita de Benjamin, és l''encarregada de la instrucció del cas, que es complicarà de mala manera a mesura que avancin els esdeveniments. Pennac torna amb una comèdia coral a l''estil de Molière però amb trets i ritme de thriller, farcida de fets estrambòtics que flueixen en cascada i amb els girs tan ben posats que el lector no pot parar de llegir.

Ce serait l''histoire d''un dictateur agoraphobe qui se ferait remplacer par un sosie. Ce serait l''histoire de ce sosie qui se ferait à son tour remplacer par un sosie. Mais c''est surtout l''histoire de l''auteur rêvant à cela dans son hamac. Et c''est l''éloge du hamac : ce rectangle de temps suspendu dans le ciel.

Mercredi 18 novembre 1936 Je veux écrire le journal de mon corps parce que tout le monde parle d''autre chose. (13 ans, 1 mois, 8 jours) Jeudi 10 janvier 1974 Si je devais rendre ce journal public, je le destinerais d''abord aux femmes. En retour, j''aimerais lire le journal qu''une femme aurait tenu de son corps. Histoire de lever un coin du mystère. En quoi consiste le mystère? En ceci par exemple qu''un homme ignore tout de ce que ressent une femme quant au volume et au poids de ses seins, et que les femmes ne savent rien de ce que ressentent les hommes quant à l''encombrement de leur sexe. (50 ans et 3 mois) Lundi 26 juillet 2010 Nous sommes jusqu''au bout l''enfant de notre corps. Un enfant déconcerté. (86 ans, 9 mois, 16 jours) De 13 à 87 ans, âge de sa mort, le narrateur a tenu le journal de son corps. Nous qui nous sentons parfois si seuls dans le nôtre nous découvrons peu à peu que ce jardin secret est un territoire commun. Tout ce que nous taisions est là, noir sur blanc, et ce qui nous faisait si peur devient souvent matière à rire.

NOUVELLE ÉDITION enrichie d''une lecture du texte de Daniel Pennac par Sandrine Bonnaire et de fiches pédagogiques à télécharger gratuitement. La voix de Sandrine Bonnaire et le trait de Serge Bloch apportent sensibilité et humanité à ce petit livre solidaire, à partager le plus largement possible! Les bénéfices des ventes de ce livre sont reversés à la Cimade, association de solidarité active avec les migrants, réfugiés et demandeurs d''asile.

Quand il était gosse, Daniel Pennac passait ses vacances à La Colle-sur-Loup, sur la Côte d''Azur. Soleil, figuiers et grande treille sous laquelle on joue à la pétanque. C''est là qu''avec son frère Bernard il fait la rencontre de Jean et Germaine : lui, grand chauve façon héron ; elle, maigre, rose et rieuse. Toujours de bonne humeur, ils intriguent avec leur joie de vivre. Pas d''enfants, pas de boulot, Jean et Germaine vivent un amour sans intermédiaire, un amour sédentaire, un amour exemplaire !

¿Es posible burlar el fracaso escolar cuando ya hemos dado pruebas de ser unos auténticos zoquetes? En Mal de escuela, Pennac comparte su experiencia escolar para poder responder en alto a varias preguntas. -¿ Otro libro sobre la escuela , pues ? ¿No te parece que ya hay bastantes ? -¡No sobre la escuela ! Todo el mundo se ocupa de la escuela , eterna querella entre antiguos y modernos : sus programas , su papel social, sus fines, la escuela de ayer , la de mañana ... No, ¡un libro sobre el zoquete ! Sobre el dolor de no comprender y sus daños colaterales . Daniel Pennac Mal de escuela aborda la cuestión de la escuela y la educación desde un punto de vista insólito, el de los malos alumnos. Pennac, un pésimo estudiante en su época, estudia esta figura del folclore popular otorgándole la nobleza que se merece y restituyéndole la carga de angustia y dolor que inevitablemente lo acompaña. Desde su propia experiencia como «zoquete» y como profesor, el autor reflexiona acerca de la pedagogía y las disfunciones de la institución escolar, sobre el sentimiento de exclusión del alumno y el amor a la enseñanza del profesor. Reseña : «Debería ser leído por cualquier profesor o padre que desee comprender los defectos de nuestro sistema educativo.» The Times Literary Suplement «Un libro excepcional.» El cultural de El Mundo «Es una historia deliciosa, divertida y seria. [...] La crónica de un largo sufrimiento que le llevó al umbral del suicidio, una exploración del dolor de no entender ni aprender nada, escrita sin patetismo [...], un elogio de maestros decisivos y el relato de una metamorfosis espectacular.» La Croix «Ningún tratado sobre los problemas de la docencia, por muchas cifras y autorizadas opiniones que aporte, podría competir con algo así, con algo contado desde las entrañas mismas del conflicto.» Clara Sánchez, Babelia, El País

"Un matin, Le Petit a décrété : - Je veux mon papa. Il a repoussé son bol de chocolat et j''ai su, moi, Benjamin Malaussène, frère de famille, que Le Petit n''avalerait plus rien tant que je n''aurais pas retrouvé son vrai père. Or ce type était introuvable. Probablement mort, d''ailleurs. Après deux jours de jeûne Le Petit était si transparent qu''on pouvait lire au travers. Mais il repoussait toujours son assiette : - Je veux mon papa."

Analyse : Roman d''humour. Roman policier (énigme).

Un chien raconte les déboires qu''il a eu à endurer à cause de la méchanceté des parents de sa petite maîtresse

Après L''Agence Babel et L''Evasion de Kamo, on retrouve le narrateur et son inséparable ami Kamo. Leur professeur de français leur donne un sujet de rédaction qui provoque une véritable épidémie dans la classe...