Parents' Guide to

The Gollywhopper Games

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Suspenseful, high-stakes contest of puzzles.

Book Jody Feldman Mystery 2008
The Gollywhopper Games Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 8+

Based on 4 parent reviews

Jojano
Jojano Parent of 8 and 10-year-old
April 1, 2011
age 7+

Fun, creative book for the whole family

I read this book aloud to my then 8 yr old and 6 yr old. My son would have been fine to read this on his own; my daughter (the 6 year old) benefited from me reading it to her. Fabulously fun and creative. There are lots of riddles that my son enjoyed trying to solve on his own. There is a definite good vs bad element to this story and it was fun to root for the good guy.

This title has:

Great role models
ryderer
ryderer Parent of 12-year-old
February 15, 2011
age 6+
This book was amazing! A new modern day vewrsion of Charlie and the Chocalate Factory!!

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Ten children are picked out of thousands to compete in the Gollywhopper Games, a contest sponsored by a toy company, with fabulous prizes to win. But Gil has more at stake -- the year before, his father, who worked for the company, was fired and arrested, falsely accused of embezzlement. Though acquitted, he and his family are still treated like criminals, and Gil wants to get enough money for them to move out of town. But the president of the company wants to bribe him to drop out, some of the other contestants are cheating, and one of them might have information about the real criminal.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (3):

This book is good fun. Start with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Make Charlie a little more dynamic, and add a backstory wherein he is trying to exonerate his father. Lose the silly humor, keep the magical factory, but change the tour to a series of puzzles and games, and you're getting close to the idea of THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES, which the author says was inspired by a boy who loved Dahl's classic book and wanted something else like it.

OK, it's not really much like it, but the result is exciting and suspenseful, with puzzles that are just challenging enough, and characters to root for who are appealing, if not very fleshed out. Bright middle-graders will enjoy it, including pausing to figure out the riddles before the characters do, and may get interested in solving more word puzzles and playing word games afterwards.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the games and puzzles. Do you like word games? Were you able to solve any of them yourself? How did you do it?

Book Details

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