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Small Fry
A funny, exciting, David vs Goliath adventure with a heart-warming father-son relationship – perfect for fans of Danny the Champion of the World, Millions, and Ratatouille.
The story of one boy and his brilliant burgers!
Benny Burns spends every weekend helping his dad by working at their burger van, parked outside the local football ground. And when Benny finds his grandfather’s old recipe book and begins following its instructions, he starts cooking INCREDIBLE food – so good, in fact, that he attracts the unwanted attention of fast food giant Bonkers Burgers! and its CEO, Bodley Bonkers.
To Bodley, Benny and his burgers are a threat that must be eliminated… by any means necessary.
And so, along with his dad and his two best friends, Jasper and Mina, Benny must find a way to defeat Bonkers Burgers, help rescue his dad’s business, and share his passion for cooking with the world – a mission that leads to him competing with the world’s greatest chef to cook the best burger.
The story of one boy and his brilliant burgers!
Benny Burns spends every weekend helping his dad by working at their burger van, parked outside the local football ground. And when Benny finds his grandfather’s old recipe book and begins following its instructions, he starts cooking INCREDIBLE food – so good, in fact, that he attracts the unwanted attention of fast food giant Bonkers Burgers! and its CEO, Bodley Bonkers.
To Bodley, Benny and his burgers are a threat that must be eliminated… by any means necessary.
And so, along with his dad and his two best friends, Jasper and Mina, Benny must find a way to defeat Bonkers Burgers, help rescue his dad’s business, and share his passion for cooking with the world – a mission that leads to him competing with the world’s greatest chef to cook the best burger.
- GenresMiddle Grade
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2024
10 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
David Baddiel
86 books446 followersDavid Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter. Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. He grew up in grew up in Dollis Hill, Willesden, North London.
After studying at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, he read English at King's College, Cambridge and graduated with a double first. He began studies for a PhD in English at University College London, but did not complete it.
Baddiel became a cabaret stand-up comedian after leaving university and also wrote sketches and jokes for various radio series. His first television appearance came in a bit-part on one episode of the showbiz satire, Filthy, Rich and Catflap. In 1988, he was introduced to Rob Newman, a comic impressionist, and the two became a writing partnership. They were subsequently paired up with the partnership of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis for a new topical comedy show for BBC Radio 1 called The Mary Whitehouse Experience, and its success led to a transfer to television, shooting Baddiel to fame.
He has written four novels: Time for Bed, Whatever Love Means, The Secret Purposes and The Death of Eli Gold.
Baddiel has two children, both born in Westminster, London, with his girlfriend, Morwenna Banks.
After studying at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, he read English at King's College, Cambridge and graduated with a double first. He began studies for a PhD in English at University College London, but did not complete it.
Baddiel became a cabaret stand-up comedian after leaving university and also wrote sketches and jokes for various radio series. His first television appearance came in a bit-part on one episode of the showbiz satire, Filthy, Rich and Catflap. In 1988, he was introduced to Rob Newman, a comic impressionist, and the two became a writing partnership. They were subsequently paired up with the partnership of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis for a new topical comedy show for BBC Radio 1 called The Mary Whitehouse Experience, and its success led to a transfer to television, shooting Baddiel to fame.
He has written four novels: Time for Bed, Whatever Love Means, The Secret Purposes and The Death of Eli Gold.
Baddiel has two children, both born in Westminster, London, with his girlfriend, Morwenna Banks.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 21, 2024
Small Fry has David Baddiel’s favourite things in it – football and food. He spins the story of a burger van that draws up outside the Brooks FC football ground on Saturdays and draws crowds for a quick snack. The van is Lenny’s and he makes the usual burger with thin patties occasionally relying on his son for help/ Lenny’s sous chef is his young son Benny who is a dab hand at burgers himself, since he operates from his grandfather’s cookbook which has a very secret ingredient in it.
The popularity of Benny’s burgers draws the attention of Bodley Bonkers, the local burger magnate whose stalls are all over the place. Benny’s friend Jasper is a fan of Bonkers Burgers but his other friend Mina believes in no beef burgers because she is a vegan. In an attempt to get Benny to support her cause she takes him to the urban farm run by her friend Baku where he meet Dottie the cow. With Bonkers Burgers trying to steal his secret recipe by hook or by crook or spoiling Lenny’s business Benny has a hard enough time. However, loyal friend that he is, he experiments with plant based burgers never managing to get it right.
Baddiel adds footnotes on the fact that he doesn’t really know how burgers go and are put together. However, he does know his food and young Benny is a chef in the making, a fan of Juliana Skeffington and in love with all the elements that go to make a good burger. Bodley Bonkers is a stand up comedian’s delight flanked by two bodyguards Michael and Michelle who as tall as he is short. Bonkers with his fondness for B alliteration is bent on expanding his burger business with all the dirty tricks and gimmicks in his bag. Losing his first two attempts he announces the great Bonkes burger context and brings in the world’s greatest chef to challenge Benny with wine-fed Wagyu beef and all the other touches of luxe that are part of top class gourmet food, including a prep team of three. Against him, Benny pits himself and his three friends with sous chef Mina bringing him vegan mince so Benny can craft his own patty. A normal fry up becomes a gourmet fry up - Baddiel deliberately makes it a cannon to kill a mosquito situation using the exaggeration that characterises a stand up comedian at the top of his game with illustrations by Corey Loftis to match.
It is a story about friendship, going vegan and the fact that all anyone needs is love. Family and friends are enough to take on the toughest competition and nothing beats a father-son bonding when the father believes in his son as staunchly and Lenny does.
The popularity of Benny’s burgers draws the attention of Bodley Bonkers, the local burger magnate whose stalls are all over the place. Benny’s friend Jasper is a fan of Bonkers Burgers but his other friend Mina believes in no beef burgers because she is a vegan. In an attempt to get Benny to support her cause she takes him to the urban farm run by her friend Baku where he meet Dottie the cow. With Bonkers Burgers trying to steal his secret recipe by hook or by crook or spoiling Lenny’s business Benny has a hard enough time. However, loyal friend that he is, he experiments with plant based burgers never managing to get it right.
Baddiel adds footnotes on the fact that he doesn’t really know how burgers go and are put together. However, he does know his food and young Benny is a chef in the making, a fan of Juliana Skeffington and in love with all the elements that go to make a good burger. Bodley Bonkers is a stand up comedian’s delight flanked by two bodyguards Michael and Michelle who as tall as he is short. Bonkers with his fondness for B alliteration is bent on expanding his burger business with all the dirty tricks and gimmicks in his bag. Losing his first two attempts he announces the great Bonkes burger context and brings in the world’s greatest chef to challenge Benny with wine-fed Wagyu beef and all the other touches of luxe that are part of top class gourmet food, including a prep team of three. Against him, Benny pits himself and his three friends with sous chef Mina bringing him vegan mince so Benny can craft his own patty. A normal fry up becomes a gourmet fry up - Baddiel deliberately makes it a cannon to kill a mosquito situation using the exaggeration that characterises a stand up comedian at the top of his game with illustrations by Corey Loftis to match.
It is a story about friendship, going vegan and the fact that all anyone needs is love. Family and friends are enough to take on the toughest competition and nothing beats a father-son bonding when the father believes in his son as staunchly and Lenny does.
January 16, 2025
Entertaining family business/meat morality story.
Baddiel does this well. Heartfelt family situations, still with humour but not outlandish. This time around it's father and son, in a burger van outside a football stadium. Took me and my son about 3 weeks of bedtimes to get through it, but he really did want to keep reading each night.
It's Big Business vs the Little Guy too, always a winner. Benny helps his dad out in the burger van, cranking out meaty burgers and hot dogs each Saturday. But Benny has his own ambitions of being the one who creates actual burgers, with his granddad's special recipe book as a guide - he's got ideas for them and doesn't want to shatter his dad's routine, not after they lost the family restaurant, his mum, and his granddad.
Benny takes a chance, gets his burgers in the hands of punters... who love them! But of course that's when the local Big Chain notices them (and their own loss in profits) and determines to drive them out of business.
With one vegan best friend and another sarcastic burger-mad one, both trying to help Benny, the stage is set for a showdown between Big Business and Burger Van.
Outlandish villains (my terrible American accent has never been so well-practiced), hard-to-constantly-say names (Benny, Lenny and Kenny, Bodley Bonkers.... my poor tongue), this was a tiring read to share, but a good overall story.
One chapter all about chefs preparing for a burger fry-off had my mouth watering with the clearly very-well-researched descriptions!
I didn't think Lenny was as integral to the story as he should have been, would have liked to have heard a bit from more Benny's dad, really. To make the key relationship at the heart of this story a little more heart-tugging. Sarcastic Jasper took a mostly-back seat, it's Vegan Mina who pushes the story along a little more, with a distinctly ethical plot about plant-based burgers. Bodley Bonkers is incredibly annoying to read aloud, which coloured my perception of him, but he represents perfectly the stereotypical Fast Food head honcho, though he has waaaaaay too many minions to keep track or to differentiate between.
It's one of those stories readers will invest in, though Benny himself is not a hugely well-developed character and doesn't really change from start to finish, his story definitely kept my son interested and listening.
This reminded me why I don't like fast food very much, and I'm still craving a good burger actually. Thanks, Baddiel.
For ages 6-10.
Baddiel does this well. Heartfelt family situations, still with humour but not outlandish. This time around it's father and son, in a burger van outside a football stadium. Took me and my son about 3 weeks of bedtimes to get through it, but he really did want to keep reading each night.
It's Big Business vs the Little Guy too, always a winner. Benny helps his dad out in the burger van, cranking out meaty burgers and hot dogs each Saturday. But Benny has his own ambitions of being the one who creates actual burgers, with his granddad's special recipe book as a guide - he's got ideas for them and doesn't want to shatter his dad's routine, not after they lost the family restaurant, his mum, and his granddad.
Benny takes a chance, gets his burgers in the hands of punters... who love them! But of course that's when the local Big Chain notices them (and their own loss in profits) and determines to drive them out of business.
With one vegan best friend and another sarcastic burger-mad one, both trying to help Benny, the stage is set for a showdown between Big Business and Burger Van.
Outlandish villains (my terrible American accent has never been so well-practiced), hard-to-constantly-say names (Benny, Lenny and Kenny, Bodley Bonkers.... my poor tongue), this was a tiring read to share, but a good overall story.
One chapter all about chefs preparing for a burger fry-off had my mouth watering with the clearly very-well-researched descriptions!
I didn't think Lenny was as integral to the story as he should have been, would have liked to have heard a bit from more Benny's dad, really. To make the key relationship at the heart of this story a little more heart-tugging. Sarcastic Jasper took a mostly-back seat, it's Vegan Mina who pushes the story along a little more, with a distinctly ethical plot about plant-based burgers. Bodley Bonkers is incredibly annoying to read aloud, which coloured my perception of him, but he represents perfectly the stereotypical Fast Food head honcho, though he has waaaaaay too many minions to keep track or to differentiate between.
It's one of those stories readers will invest in, though Benny himself is not a hugely well-developed character and doesn't really change from start to finish, his story definitely kept my son interested and listening.
This reminded me why I don't like fast food very much, and I'm still craving a good burger actually. Thanks, Baddiel.
For ages 6-10.
November 29, 2024
Small Fry has David Baddiel’s favourite things in it – football and food. He spins the story of a burger van that draws up outside the Brooks FC football ground on Saturdays and draws crowds for a quick snack. The van is Lenny’s and he makes the usual burger with thin patties occasionally relying on his son for help/ Lenny’s sous chef is his young son Benny who is a dab hand at burgers himself, since he operates from his grandfather’s cookbook which has a very secret ingredient in it.
The popularity of Benny’s burgers draws the attention of Bodley Bonkers, the local burger magnate whose stalls are all over the place. Benny’s friend Jasper is a fan of Bonkers Burgers but his other friend Mina believes in no beef burgers because she is a vegan. In an attempt to get Benny to support her cause she takes him to the urban farm run by her friend Baku where he meet Dottie the cow. With Bonkers Burgers trying to steal his secret recipe by hook or by crook or spoiling Lenny’s business Benny has a hard enough time. However, loyal friend that he is, he experiments with plant based burgers never managing to get it right.
Baddiel adds footnotes on the fact that he doesn’t really know how burgers go and are put together. However, he does know his food and young Benny is a chef in the making, a fan of Juliana Skeffington and in love with all the elements that go to make a good burger. Bodley Bonkers is a stand up comedian’s delight flanked by two bodyguards Michael and Michelle who as tall as he is short. Bonkers with his fondness for B alliteration is bent on expanding his burger business with all the dirty tricks and gimmicks in his bag. Losing his first two attempts he announces the great Bonkes burger context and brings in the world’s greatest chef to challenge Benny with wine-fed Wagyu beef and all the other touches of luxe that are part of top class gourmet food, including a prep team of three. Against him, Benny pits himself and his three friends with sous chef Mina bringing him vegan mince so Benny can craft his own patty. A normal fry up becomes a gourmet fry up - Baddiel deliberately makes it a cannon to kill a mosquito situation using the exaggeration that characterises a stand up comedian at the top of his game .
It is a story about friendship, going vegan and the fact that all anyone needs is love. Family and friends are enough to take on the toughest competition and nothing beats a father-son bonding when the father believes in his son as staunchly and Lenny does.
The popularity of Benny’s burgers draws the attention of Bodley Bonkers, the local burger magnate whose stalls are all over the place. Benny’s friend Jasper is a fan of Bonkers Burgers but his other friend Mina believes in no beef burgers because she is a vegan. In an attempt to get Benny to support her cause she takes him to the urban farm run by her friend Baku where he meet Dottie the cow. With Bonkers Burgers trying to steal his secret recipe by hook or by crook or spoiling Lenny’s business Benny has a hard enough time. However, loyal friend that he is, he experiments with plant based burgers never managing to get it right.
Baddiel adds footnotes on the fact that he doesn’t really know how burgers go and are put together. However, he does know his food and young Benny is a chef in the making, a fan of Juliana Skeffington and in love with all the elements that go to make a good burger. Bodley Bonkers is a stand up comedian’s delight flanked by two bodyguards Michael and Michelle who as tall as he is short. Bonkers with his fondness for B alliteration is bent on expanding his burger business with all the dirty tricks and gimmicks in his bag. Losing his first two attempts he announces the great Bonkes burger context and brings in the world’s greatest chef to challenge Benny with wine-fed Wagyu beef and all the other touches of luxe that are part of top class gourmet food, including a prep team of three. Against him, Benny pits himself and his three friends with sous chef Mina bringing him vegan mince so Benny can craft his own patty. A normal fry up becomes a gourmet fry up - Baddiel deliberately makes it a cannon to kill a mosquito situation using the exaggeration that characterises a stand up comedian at the top of his game .
It is a story about friendship, going vegan and the fact that all anyone needs is love. Family and friends are enough to take on the toughest competition and nothing beats a father-son bonding when the father believes in his son as staunchly and Lenny does.
May 9, 2025
Small Fry is a children's book. Benny and Lenny have a burger van and serve burgers and hot dogs.
The first part of the story is about Lenny, trying to show his dad that he can make a burger. He also based this on the cookbook that he found, with a written note from his grandpa.
Then there is a chain burger place that is joyless. So when Benny's Burgers became more popular, the chain wanted to get the secret recipe to make that burger.
The simple story is making the chain owner, an egotistic man, the villain in this story. He tried to buy the secret recipe. Then he tried to get it another way.
In the middle of this is Lenny got to know a cow through his friend and now wants to make plant-based burgers. Benny is sceptical about this, he also wanted to give Lenny a try. So there is a pilot program for serving limited plant-based burgers. It seems to be okay, but not as tasty as the beef burgers.
The burger chain is trying to challenge Benny and has asked for a cooking competition. As the chain has money, they hired a chef to do this competition. That's probably the highlight of the story.
Kids might like a straightforward story that has a go-vegan underlying tone to it. When there are more options for non-meat eaters, the world will be better because of the reduced consumption of meat.
I give it 3.5 stars.
The first part of the story is about Lenny, trying to show his dad that he can make a burger. He also based this on the cookbook that he found, with a written note from his grandpa.
Then there is a chain burger place that is joyless. So when Benny's Burgers became more popular, the chain wanted to get the secret recipe to make that burger.
The simple story is making the chain owner, an egotistic man, the villain in this story. He tried to buy the secret recipe. Then he tried to get it another way.
In the middle of this is Lenny got to know a cow through his friend and now wants to make plant-based burgers. Benny is sceptical about this, he also wanted to give Lenny a try. So there is a pilot program for serving limited plant-based burgers. It seems to be okay, but not as tasty as the beef burgers.
The burger chain is trying to challenge Benny and has asked for a cooking competition. As the chain has money, they hired a chef to do this competition. That's probably the highlight of the story.
Kids might like a straightforward story that has a go-vegan underlying tone to it. When there are more options for non-meat eaters, the world will be better because of the reduced consumption of meat.
I give it 3.5 stars.
October 14, 2025
Meet Benny, nicknamed “Small Fry” because he’s small and he fries… burgers and hot dogs at his Dad’s stand, that is 😆
David Baddiel delivers a fun, illustrated 7-9er title about Benny’s singular mission to make the best burgers, and sets him against burger mogul Bonkers Burgers.
Baddiel is a little tongue-in-cheek and breaks the fourth wall with the young reader, having a side conversation on the scene at hand or a particular choice of words.
Benny sticks to his belief in cooking with love, and with the help of Jasper (who sometimes goes in the other direction of things) and Mina (who raises the idea of vegan burgers) — outwits the goliaths out to get him.
📚: @times.reads
David Baddiel delivers a fun, illustrated 7-9er title about Benny’s singular mission to make the best burgers, and sets him against burger mogul Bonkers Burgers.
Baddiel is a little tongue-in-cheek and breaks the fourth wall with the young reader, having a side conversation on the scene at hand or a particular choice of words.
Benny sticks to his belief in cooking with love, and with the help of Jasper (who sometimes goes in the other direction of things) and Mina (who raises the idea of vegan burgers) — outwits the goliaths out to get him.
📚: @times.reads
November 22, 2024
Humour and characters will appear to middle primary audience. Benny's Scrumptious burgers have to battle it out with Bonkers Burgers. Themes of fairness and teamwork. Mentions of veganism without being pushy.
December 23, 2024
Baddiel Books #14
Entertaining yarn from Baddiel has little guy facing off against big guy.
Broadly drawn characters and absurd scenarios don't take away from the entertainment.
Surely influenced by Dahl as a generation of UK authors appear to have been.
Entertaining yarn from Baddiel has little guy facing off against big guy.
Broadly drawn characters and absurd scenarios don't take away from the entertainment.
Surely influenced by Dahl as a generation of UK authors appear to have been.
November 10, 2025
3.5* Rather implausible yet fun and with a message of caring for others, working together and food/footie. I hope one day that a vegan burger as described comes about to give more options to more people out there!
January 6, 2025
Such a good book!
March 20, 2025
a funny and enjoyable read
October 23, 2025
I haven't read a book in ages but I have always liked David Baddiel so as soon as I read the first page I definitely knew I was hooked! loved it 😁😁
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews