To feel a bit ill about David Walliams?

[HelloYouTwo]

Apparently he’s made over £100m from his books.

There are so many better books out there than that pile of repetitive mildly racist, stereotype-laden junk that he peddles off the back of being a bit famous. I feel sorry for all the decent non-celeb authors out there.

News article if anyone interested:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-walliams-sitting-comfortably-in-100-million-book-club-gmp6bwm6b?shareToken=170904334320775f0850152088ce45a1

I had no clue who he was when DD asked for one of his books. Nor has DD any idea.

I am in two minds about them. Like Jacqueline Wilson he covers topics children do relate to but he overdo the way they are portraied.

She outgrew his books but still remembers them fondly and they were very popular in her class especially the boys and I think if any author gets boys reading it can only be a good thing.

Tom Fletcher must have made money from his books too, and I would bet my house his celebrity helped him get a book deal, yet he is an MN darling, so none of the same hate

Well this really Tom fletcher second career as celeb dad who invented stories for his kids is aww inducing regardless of how much money he is making.

I get cross about famous people getting a leg up in an unrelated field where they are not talented, because they are famous for something else.

I don’t think this is the best example of that though. Walliams’ books are genuinely popular with kids. A publisher might have published them even if they were by Joe Bloggs, because they are Dahl esque.

The reason I hate his books is not because of famous person leg up syndrome but because they are deeply unpleasant. DD was bought some by DM, I started to read one or two and took them away despite DD’s protests. DM has since had a look and agrees they are horrible.

If your DC likes them, have a read and see if you really want your DC to absorb those attitudes. Very sneery, snide, mean characters and dialogue - and that includes the “goodies” in the book. Roald Dahl had a lot of unpleasant characters too but they were the baddies, the main character and other goodies were always nice. Which has a very different effect on the reader IMO.

I am massively pro reading but I would genuinely rather my DD zoned out in front of the TV instead of reading Walliams.

Well this really Tom fletcher second career as celeb dad who invented stories for his kids is aww inducing regardless of how much money he is making

you could say exactly the same thing about Walliams! He is a dad isn't he?

This is such a peeve of mine! I am an author and it pisses me right off that any celebrity can get book deals purely because they are already a household name. One that springs to mind was Martine McCutcheon - an OK story but so appallingly written it was diabolical. I shall persevere, as I write not to become famous but for my own pleasure - but a little more of a level playing field might help!

Whatever you say, children love David Walliams books, Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates. What's the problem with that? OP you must hate that enduring genius Roald Dahl too whose books are loved by generation after generation. They are full of strange, subversive characters often doing questionable things but children love the slightly macabre and have a sense of humour so thry enjoy this type of fiction.

Book snobs would rather children's parents bought sophisticated, challenging books that look great on the shelf but have never been read.

Proper book snobs have an excellent knowledge of children’s literature that children will fly off the shelf if children are given a chance to be introduced to it.

Poor quality books as a part of a much wider diet isn’t going to do any harm tbh. It’s when it’s all their reading and you get into the mindset of ‘as long as they’re reading’ it can become an issue.

Book snobs would rather children's parents bought sophisticated, challenging books that look great on the shelf but have never been read.

False dichotomy, surely?

My children read a lot. They're slap-bang in Walliams' target audience, but I can find a lot of other things they'll read at the library, and I do. At the moment they like David Baddiel, Ali Sparkes and a truly ghastly series that is a total knock-off of Harry Potter, except in space. [green]

Wow there’s a lot of people here who don’t like other people having opinions!! My opinion is that DW writes crappy books that wouldn’t have seen the light of day were it not for his prior fame.

Many of you have the opinion that he’s great and your kids love his books. We disagree! It doesn’t make me bitter or wrong to hold my view and I don’t think anyone else should change their view. It’s called a discussion. It’s what chat forums are for.

(I never said my own dc didn’t like his books by the way and I didn’t stop them getting them out from the library. I did not like the depiction of Raj. I did not like a woman being described as a page 3 stunner as I had to explain that to my 7 year old. After reading 2 or 3 I felt they followed the same template and that they got away with a lot of lists and large font that bulked out the books. My dc read 4 or so and then grew out of them.

Sorry

I picked up Boy in a Dress to read to my 6 year old DD as a bedtime story as I thought it would be good to show how silly gender stereotypes are.

Then the main character enters the female toilets by deception.

Cue a big conversation about how boys shouldn't ever go in the girls toilets no matter what they're wearing, and how it wasn't ok for him to do that.

We started reading Matilda instead.

as much as adults might prefer different books, children like a gross, funny, book with naughty characters don't they..

I mean my son likes books I hate (he is 3 so I have to read them to him! but he always chooses the same ones and we have literally over 100 books!) but I will continue to read them to him because he likes them.

Book snobs will never get anywhere with trying to introduce "proper literature" with kids because kids probably find it boring as fuck.

there are books that I read as a child that I cant imagine DS would ever want to read, because times have changed, and what was exciting for me as a child is not exciting for my son. We may not like that but it wont change.

One book, maybe two would have been published because of who he is maybe. But no publisher is going to keep on publishing them for as long as they have done without them doing so because they think that they are good books for the audience and will sell.

oh the irony of the OP insulting people but getting all worked up because people dare disagreeing with them

He gets published because of who he is, if a non celeb tried to get that same material published it just wouldn’t happen. Publishing’s very difficult to get in to when they continue to use the same old authors over again. It’s just a shame they won’t give anyone else a chance, other than creepy looking fucker DW.

I don't think you have to be a book snob to think writers should be paid fairly for their work and celebs shouldn't accept credit where it isn't due.

Tom Fletcher, Giovanna Fletcher, Fearne Britton, Fearne Cotton, Anton Du Beke, Dawn FrnchHolly Willoughby...the list goes on. There are lots of celebrities who are published authors. What's wrong with that? Some of them -shock horror- might even write a decent book!

My little girl loves them. She also reads other authors and so I think it's a fair play to the man

I don’t like him, he sets off my creep radar.

Me too.

I've never read a whole one of his books, but I've read excerpts, and some short ones that came with happy meals once, and I don't like them. There's just something that sets me on edge about how things are said and what the plots are, and how they're generally all dealt with.

I think YANBU - I've only read one of his books (to see the appeal) and I thought it was badly-written shite.

But then, I think DW is a creeeeeepy person, and I can't bear anything about him, so I could be prejudiced against him in every respect - but I don't think so. I know badly-written shite when I see it.

But Sirzy don’t you think they might sell so well because the publishers pour so much money into marketing them. There’s a reason they get put on the table at the front of the WH Smith stores or at the end of supermarket aisles and that’s because the publisher paid for the placement.

Bolkykecks I don’t disagree that some classics don’t stand up to more scrutiny. Wind in the Willows was one that few modern children are likely to enjoy I think. Harry Potter doesn’t really stand up to being read out loud as you start to realise how slow and repetitive it gets. (In my opinion of course ). But there are really good books out there that don’t get the promotion that DW does and so they don’t sell like he does. And because he sells, the publisher commissions another one and round it goes again.

theEnglishInPatient who have I insulted?

I’m not worked up. I’m enjoying a discussion about something I read about and reacted to. It’s really interesting hearing people’s views. Holding a view in opposition to someone else doesn’t mean I think I’m better than them. It’s highly likely that something I rate is considered by someone else to be shit. That’s fine by me, it just means we have different tastes and opinions.

Mine were fans until they discovered Wimpy Kid which are so much funnier.

Again that may have been the case for early books but now the PR and selling will primarily be based on the fact no matter how much you hate the fact he is a popular children’s author and his books sell well.

Why wouldn’t a publisher want to promote a book they know will sell? Just like when each Harry Potter book was released you would get them in prime position because people want to buy them.

But there are really good books out there that don’t get the promotion that DW does and so they don’t sell like he does. And because he sells, the publisher commissions another one and round it goes again

well, yes. Unfortunately that's how the world works isn't it. Its not what you know its who you know and all of that.

Fame sells doesn't it. Not particularly David Walliams' fault, and I can imagine that most people in that position would take advantage of it too.

You should be more angry at the publishers.