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.
asserted
they → age → names
Now, all the books are going.
asserted
books → go → ?
“I’ll probably take them away and replace them with other authors,” says Sarah, a mother in west London.
asserted
Sarah → take → London
“Sooner rather than later, so they don’t realise.”
asserted
they → 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”.
asserted
we → ask → 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.
asserted
author → allege → 15
Walliams denies the allegations.
asserted
Walliams → deny → allegations
HarperCollins stopped publishing new Walliams books last December and dropped his entire backlist in September.
asserted
HarperCollins → stop → September
For many independent children’s booksellers, the news only confirmed a decision made long ago.
asserted
news → confirm → decision
Helen Tamblyn-Saville, owner of Wonderland Bookshop in Retford, Nottinghamshire, stopped stocking him in 2020.
asserted
Saville → stop → 2020
“They didn’t fit the ethos and values of my shop,” she says.
asserted
she → fit → shop
Walliams “punched down”, she believes, citing what she sees as “themes of racism, misogyny and classism” in his books.
asserted
she → punch → books
In 2021, HarperCollins removed a story about a Chinese boy, Brian Wong, Who Was Never, Ever Wrong, from future editions of The World’s Worst Children after complaints that it relied on harmful racial stereotypes.
asserted
it → remove → stereotypes
In 2025, Tamblyn-Saville turned down an event with him.
asserted
Saville → turn → him
“It feels very much as if the golden goose had to be protected, despite the clear red flags.”
asserted
goose → feel → flags
Griffin Books in Penarth, south Wales, dropped his books about 18 months ago over “the low quality of the writing and his frequent use of offensive stereotypes”.
asserted
Books → drop → stereotypes
The Chicken and Frog bookshop in Brentwood, Essex, has not stocked him for a decade.
asserted
bookshop → stock → decade
Urmi, owner of Pickled Pepper Books in north London, has a blunter opinion: “We heard [rumours] about David Walliams at least five years ago and at that point chose to not stock his books,” she says.
asserted
she → have → books
She believes that “everyone in the industry knew … so anyone that’s only just taking books off the shelf is only interested in profit”.
asserted
that → believe → profit
Mainstream stores have moved quickly.
asserted
stores → move → ?
The Works, a budget retailer, said it had removed all David Walliams titles from sale and TG Jones confirmed it no longer sold his books in store or online.
asserted
it → say → store
Waterstones said it was talking to HarperCollins about returning “the small number of copies which remain in stock in a few of our shops”.
asserted
which → say → shops
Families are clearing their shelves too.
asserted
Families → clear → shelves
One parent walked past a neighbourhood book-swap box this week and found it stuffed full of Walliams titles.
asserted
it → walk → titles
Another mother joked that she would be burning hers, saying Walliams was “a knock-off Roald Dahl anyway”.
asserted
Walliams → joke → hers
Sarah hasn’t decided what to do with hers: giving them to a charity shop just puts them “back into the system”.
asserted
giving → decide → system
Walliams’ sales have been falling sharply – but they have not disappeared.
asserted
they → fall → ?
Retailers sold 7,497 Walliams books over the past four weeks, worth £48,400, according to NielsenIQ BookData figures reported by The Bookseller.
uncertain
Retailers → sell → Bookseller
In the same period last year, when he had a new book out, Walliams sold 102,000.
asserted
Walliams → have → 102,000
Even so, almost 108,000 copies of his books have been sold so far this year, worth more than £702,000, and his titles have made more than £153m since 2008.
asserted
titles → sell → 2008
Public libraries are also facing a difficult decision.
asserted
libraries → face → decision
“This is a very sensitive issue involving deeply disturbing allegations, and some people may find the continued presence of these books upsetting,” said Isobel Hunter, CEO of the charity Libraries Connected.
uncertain
Hunter → involve → charity
“But we also have a long-established legal principle within the sector that all books should be available to the public unless the content itself is unlawful.
asserted
content → have → public
So most library services have said that the books will remain in their collections until they are naturally weeded out and withdrawn under existing stock policy.
asserted
they → say → policy
That doesn’t mean, of course, that libraries are obliged to promote them or have them on display.”
asserted
libraries → mean → display
Anecdotally, she said, demand had “dropped significantly in recent years”.
asserted
demand → say → years
Some schools appear to be taking a harder line – several teachers told the Guardian they were removing Walliams books from their classroom shelves.
asserted
they → appear → shelves
For Sarah, the principle is simple: “Kids need to understand that actions have consequences.
asserted
actions → need → consequences
If something’s not right, then we need to act upon it.”
asserted
we → ’ → it
The Aporia
