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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ban David Walliams’ books

146 replies

Strictlycomeparent · 19/12/2025 05:51

When his books first started coming out (pre me having kids) I was a bit surprised as his comedy is very much not family friendly. I read one when mine were little and was totally shocked by the attitudes it was promoting in children. The books seemed mean and unpleasant. He is someone who I have never understood how his brand of ‘funny’ is seen as anything other than a kind of bullying.

So I decided not to ever buy them for my kids and ask family members not to either. I mentioned this to a friend and she thought I was being very strange and acted like they were children’s classics that I was depriving my children from.

AIBU?

OP posts:
FlannelandPuce · 19/12/2025 07:08

DS1 has dyslexia and read David Walliam's books many moons ago when they first came out. I didn't have a problem with them or him at the time, and was just happy ds was reading. I do remember DS getting some of David's audiobooks for his birthday and listening to them on a long journey in the car. I really didn't enjoying them and did think there was an unpleasant edge to his style of writing.

A few years ago my younger dd started to read a Walliam's book of short stories about animals, she only read one story and really didn't enjoy it. She felt it was unpleasant and mean, which children really shouldn't pick up on when reading a book by an established author.

We all know the warped attitude David Walliam's revealed in bgt and in my eyes that means he is not fit to influence my children. If you are going to write children's books you need to have a strong moral compass and know what's appropriate. I think there is better authors and better role models. Tbh I am really surprised he wasn't dropped from his publishers, and is still churning out books.

SparkFinder · 19/12/2025 07:15

My kids hated the couple they tried and so we just never bought any more. Roald Dahl had cruelty in his books, but it was kind of in the realm of justice, it was only the horrid people that got their comeuppance. Walliam's books are just plain mean and nasty, we all disliked the tone of it straight away. Then I found out about the likely army of ghost writers and the impact celebrity child authors have on writers in the industry, and we decided to avoid completely and steer family away.

SpanThatWorld · 19/12/2025 07:18

My youngest loved them. Not everything is marvellous but lots of Roald Dahl is absolute shite and that's before you touch on his anti-semitism.

My mum tried to ban Enid Blyton. I read loads of Famous Five which I loved and yet I haven't grown up into a smug, foreigner-hating lover of dogs who likes to make the table look nice. I was given lots of her other stuff (some of which was clearly written on the back of a fag packet) and recognised even then that it was drivel. But my kids loved the Faraway Tree when they heard it in the radio...

thehistorymum · 19/12/2025 07:18

I work part time in a library and our librarian hates his books - there are loads of better, under appreciated authors your kids could be reading!

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 19/12/2025 07:19

I've not read them but a Chinese teacher at school talking about book donation said please no David w...

popcornandpotatoes · 19/12/2025 07:22

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 19/12/2025 07:19

I've not read them but a Chinese teacher at school talking about book donation said please no David w...

A Chinese teacher? What? How is that relevant

Dgll · 19/12/2025 07:26

My children read a couple but never really liked them. I thinking banning them is a bit much. Children have to learn to form their own views about things. My grandmother banned so many books for my mother without telling her why. We still puzzle about some of her decisions. Obviously, it just made those books more enticing. I warn my children if a book is scary or very sad. If they are keen readers, you will struggle to keep up with what they are reading.

StillCreatingAName · 19/12/2025 07:32

In a world where children can watch porn, perhaps a beheading if they fancy and have people being much, much worse than just ‘mean and unpleasant’ on social media and WhatsApp groups, this is your hill before 7am @Strictlycomeparent?

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 19/12/2025 07:33

I really dislike Walliams. I had a look at some of his books in Waterstones as my kid is a voracious reader and about the right age but I felt they were quite unpleasant and also really badly written so didn't get any. She subsequently got three from a cousin but didn't finish the first one and asked me to charity shop all of them as she didn't like them.

I wouldn't have banned her from reading them, though, and he must be doing something right if his books got other people reading!

herbalteabag · 19/12/2025 07:47

My kids read about 3 of them in total. Eldest read Billionaire Boy when it first came out and said it was good, but I didn't know much about it, he was 10 and didn't like people reading to him. To be honest, he'd loved Horrid Henry, and I always thought they were rubbish with lots of sibling bullying. I've never banned any books though. I've always been happy that my children wanted to read. Eldest was a bookworm until about 14. Youngest would only go through phases and had long periods of time when he didn't like any books and wouldn't read. I would have been happy for him to read literally anything! He's older now and rarely reads.
To add, I work in primary schools and it had been interesting to see that a few schools here and there heavily promote David Walliams.

Rictasmorticia · 19/12/2025 07:56

I am a bit on the fence with this one. I can’t stand David Williams. When I asked my grandson what I could buy for his 8 year old son, these were what he requested. He struggles to read but he will read these.

When my DD was younger, a friends mum banned Jaqueline WIlson books. They made them all the more attractive for her so she read them in the library.

ShyMaryEllen · 19/12/2025 07:57

I’m not a fan of banning books. DW wasn’t writing when mine were little, but I think he’s a creep, so probably wouldn’t have chosen to buy his books. If the children came across them at school or wherever and asked for them I would have encouraged them to borrow them from the library so they were returned. Banning books is the thin end of a very troublesome wedge IMO. As an engaged parent you can influence how your children respond to them, but why refuse them the opportunity to think for themselves?

Needmorelego · 19/12/2025 08:03

I read the first few he did and if I remember correctly there's a lot of "pop culture" references in them so they must be very dated by now.

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 19/12/2025 08:06

@popcornandpotatoes apparnkty the way he depicts Chinese characters is racist ?
I've not read the books

Whatafustercluck · 19/12/2025 08:09

I think you let your children read whatever they're drawn to, because it's more important to get them reading than it is to instill in them a love of literature greats. I say this as someone who loved reading and studied English Literature at university. Sadly, neither of my children enjoy reading for fun, despite my best efforts - and having read to them since they were babies. So if my youngest showed an interest in DW books, I'd encourage it. DW books were the only books my ds would read. There's far too much snobbery attached to books.

I don't like DW as a person, but I enjoyed reading Mr Stink to my eldest. It reminded me of a local 'celebrity' homeless man, who everyone loved. And I admit I had a few tears at the end of the story, too.

Hedgehog23 · 19/12/2025 08:26

I have never bought them and we’ve never been gifted them. My eldest is quite a reluctant reader and will read at school, but at home it is mostly graphic novels, audio books and me reading to him. He’s never mentioned David Walliams so have avoided it (I wouldn’t buy them and ideally wouldn’t read them to him, though me reading it means I could highlight problematic content).

ApplebyArrows · 19/12/2025 08:27

mids2019 · 19/12/2025 05:57

He is the poor man's roahl Dahl and no literary giant. I think he possibly the first celeb to start peddling shi t childrens' books.

To be fair he was already an established writer (of TV comedy). It's a change of genre but not that big a leap. Terry Jones of Monty Python wrote some good children's books. Dahl wrote for screen as well as writing novels.

But Walliams's writing was always characterised by nastiness and bigotry. Much more than Dahl's was, in my opinion (though of course he has elements of it).

Flowerslamp · 19/12/2025 08:29

David Walliams had made me uncomfortable for a very long time. His move into the children's market is part of that.

ChocolateCroissantCafe · 19/12/2025 08:30

Absolutely fine to ask family members not to buy them, so they can choose something that will be enjoyed and appreciated. Must admit, we don't read them either for the same reasons (no snobbery as we read all sorts, it's not wall to wall classics), and I wasn't thrilled about his leaked Britain's Got Talent comments. The celebrity author point is a good one because they're everywhere and easy to pick up. There are tons of other fun writers for kids without the unpleasantness who don't get the same promotion.

Whattodoo8 · 19/12/2025 08:31

I took a similar stance. I would not buy them, told people not to buy them for my DC. When one of them was older, he read one of them in the school library and told the librarian “my mum won’t buy these books because she doesn’t like the author”. I hadn’t realised my DC knew! They must have heard me. Children hear everything.

DC said that the librarian said she wasn’t a fan either!

I also said to DC it’s fine if they like them and want to read them from the library (I wasn’t full on banning books, just refusing to pay for them because I don’t like him). DC said he didn’t like them anyway, not his taste.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 19/12/2025 08:34

I really didn't like them, but personally, I went for talking to dd about what I disliked about them rather than actually banning them.

EasternStandard · 19/12/2025 08:34

We don’t have them either, they’re just not good.

gogomomo2 · 19/12/2025 08:37

I work in a charity shop and kids love these books, parents just are happy to see their kids actually reading and we get 99p a book, often donated back a year or two later when they have outgrown them. Unless you are a 12 year old you won’t get it

Gagamama2 · 19/12/2025 08:41

Oh I can’t stand his books. They are utter shite. The kids kept wanting me to read the worst pets and worst kids ones for them at bedtime - every time they found the books and I remembered I hadn’t given them away yet I inwardly groaned. Endless lists to pad things out, overly long stories (all could do with being half the length), shite writing. Ditto the mummy fairy and me books series and the dotty detective series.