David Walliams children's books - thoughts?

Quienten Blake does the animation he did Rhal Dads books so yeah it has aRD feel about them.. Dd was 1 of 4 kids in her high school year to get Advanced Higher English (A*Alevel) and i honestly think if it wasnt for Gangsta granny she would have no interest in English and reading she read them later than most kids. So they might not be the best written books and silly but if they get a kid reading then that is no bad thing

My 9yo loves them. I can't stand them. Walliams gives me the creeps on screen.

I hate World dressing up book day too. We are in Wales so have national dress day on March 1st or wear a rugby shirt then dressing up as a book character normally within the same week. Pisses me off especially because we don't have any girls to borrow dresses off and have to think of something else. Mind you if you cut a head hole in a pillow case and rub it in mud you can do Stig of the Dump pretty cheap.

I'm not a fan

My dd's have not been fans

I also can't stand wimpy kid, beast quest or captain underpants -but a lot of children at school seem to love them

Whatever gets them reading

I fucking hate World Dressing Up Day too.

Harrumph.

DS3 (9) has read all of them now and loved them to bits. IMHO whatever gets them reading when they are younger is brilliant. All the boys in his school seem to have adored The Boy in The Dress and world book day is awash with football mad boys who have stolen their sisters clothes for a day. I think that is a great step forward.

My DS (9) loved them all..The only one I wasn't keen on was demon dentist..

Although he is a fantastic reader is put off by thick books..We started reading these a chapter each..

All his friends enjoy them

I've read them all and enjoyed them as have my dc.

My 10yo dd has read them all, she loves them and he is the only author she gets really excited about.

Not a huge fan here either. I guess it's a matter of preference but I can't help but feel his celebrity status got him published. There's so many other better authors out there

Dd2 wasnt a great reader and struggled but loved Davids books I love him for writing them she couldnt wait for the new ones to come out

My 7 year old likes the audiobooks and has just started to read the books to himself. I like them!

My just 8 yo ds loves them. I don't like the man at all but reading is all good in my mind. DS also recently read David Baddiel People/person controller (can't remember and he's asleep) and loved it too.
Roald Dahl is always good. Tom Gates and Chris Hoys books are good as well

My 8 year old loves them and 5 year old giggles along to audio books. My 8 year old enjoys them along with the how to train your dragon books, Harry Potter and Roald Dahl and I admit to enjoying them also - they are great for kids with a good sense of humour.

They are cringe-worthy. My DC do not care for them. So many good books out there.

We have the cds and dd's listen to them all the time. Themes are very thought provoking and sad in places. Not particularly 'highbrow' but that's not the point of a kids book Imo. I personally love Raj!

My daughter got a few for her 4th birthday, I've never read any of them more than once, thank god they were awful. Cringey as fuck.

They are shit. They would never have been put to print if it wasn't for his name on the front. They are awfully written and not funny at all.

I teach year 5 and we had him as our author of the month at one point this year. I will not be using him again!

They are brilliant. We own all of them in print and as talking books. I think Billionaire Boy is the weakest but my children loved all of them. The Boy in the Dress is beautifully written and touches on some really important themes. Gangsta Granny is genuinely touching as well as very funny.

Doinitfine- that's a strong reaction! I realise they might not be to everyone's taste, but I have been surprisingly impressed with them. I think they pick up on some important issues in a really accessible way. Mine were reading them from about 6 and loved them- they still talk about gansta granny now and laugh at the bit where she is going down the motorway, 2 1/2 years later. And it helped introduce the idea that grandparents can die. I think its fine for the kids to enjoy some reading just for fun and I think they will have helped many a reluctant reader to see that reading can be for pleasure. My kids read worthy stuff too, but these books have played an important part in their reading development and so i became a real convert!

Personally, I think they are a more acceptable Roald Dahl - DW's characters are also a bit more rounded ...

Yup, no sense of humour at all.

I have actually never laughed at anything ever.

Oh god, the cringe is coming back as I remember thr blank faces staring back at me as I read out the lame jokes and the ploddong, contrived story about the stereotype character.

Doinitfine that's a bit harsh, or maybe you've no sense of humour?!

To the OP my DD is just 10 & really liked them. Her fave is Awful Auntie.
Fwiw she also enjoyed the Emily Whinsnapp series, Liz Kessler I think.