Parents take action while independent bookshops say they had already stopped stocking his titles
In Sarah’s house, David Walliams has been a bedtime staple for years. Her children, aged eight, six and four, have dressed up as his characters for World Book Day – they love the over-the-top, unusual names and illustrations.
Now, all the books are going. “I’ll probably take them away and replace them with other authors,” says Sarah, a mother in west London. “Sooner rather than later, so they don’t realise.” If any of her children ask why, she will tell them “that his choices aren’t great and that I think we should be reading other books”.
This week a joint Guardian and ITV News investigation alleged that the children’s author used his position to pursue young women and girls for sex, including girls as young as 15. Walliams denies the allegations. HarperCollins stopped publishing new Walliams books last December and dropped his entire backlist in September.
For many independent children’s booksellers, the news only confirmed a decision made long ago. Helen Tamblyn-Saville, owner of Wonderland Bookshop in Retford, Nottinghamshire, stopped stocking him in 2020. “They didn’t fit the ethos and values of my shop,” she says. Walliams “punched down”, she believes, citing what she sees as “themes of racism, misogyny and classism” in his books.
