The World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams

Members not attending our monthly Book Club get-togethers may wonder what we are doing reading a book aimed at young readers.

The truth is, there was a small rebellion one evening at Book Club, around about the time when we were reading Circes, and the cry went up from the membership present for something lighter and shorter that didn't make our collective brains hurt.

Consequently, we are dipping into the highly successful oeuvre of Englishman, David Walliams, apparently one of the most influential children's writers today. Millions of young children are said to enjoy his books so as Christmas is coming up fast this book could be one you can buy and give to your favourite young relative after reading.

The World's Worst Teachers is ten tales about the world's most splendidly sinister teachers and since some of our members were previously teachers we can't wait for their reviews.

Our adventure into children's fiction turned out to be an intriguing one, although members were ultimately more impressed with learning about the author, David Walliams, than with this particular example of his work.

We would be interested in feedback from members who have children or grandchildren who know and like (or dislike) Walliams' books. We weren't sure who this one was being pitched to since we couldn't imagine girls being as impressed as boys with the fulsome descriptions of bodily functions and their products which are included in this volume. Having said that, The Day my Bum Went Psycho by Andy Griffiths was popular with girls as well as boys, so perhaps times have changed and 'bottom burps' are equally hilarious to all young people these days.

We were also unsure of the age group Walliams was writing for here, because high school is mentioned but it seems unlikely to be read by children much older than upper primary school.

Walliams has written a series of The World's Worst ..., of which this is the latest. Basically, the book consists of 10 stories about the 10 most humorously worst teachers Walliams can describe. They are all at different, weird schools to provide additional variety and fun. Not much learning appears to be done.

The teachers did remind some members of their own teachers (although, strangely, halitosis is not included among the features of the worst teachers in this book), and of the strange practices that went on at school (such as regulation underwear inspections and 'black marks' against your House if you should accidentally drop a lunch paper in the playground). We wondered how much the book was influenced by Walliams' own recollections of teachers, although the ones in the book are, of course, quite over the top.

Some members felt that the author was able to nail some of the things children of a certain age hate most about adults:

• how they expect to be obeyed, even when their orders are bizarre
• how they go on and on infinitum about the most stupefyingly boring topics
• how any sign of romance such as hand holding or affectionate words between them is definitely ‘yuck'.

We liked the 'Walliams' dictionary' which offers children imaginative made up words sprinkled through the text for added humour.

Walliams does address gender inequality in the book - the vicar in one story is a woman and the child who works out a cunning plan to take revenge on a teacher is a girl. However, the book is not altogether politically correct. While there is no sex or drugs (or rock 'n' roll), there are acts of violence, both against children and adults. While these are in the league of Road Runner rather than Romper Stomper, one example is an adult leaving a kid locked in a cupboard over night which might cause some parents qualms. But, hey, we all survived the stories of the Brothers Grimm without psychological problems, didn't we?

Some of us listened to this on Audible but for the full experience members recommended the illustrated version featuring the brilliant cartoons by Tony Ross (who has worked with Walliams on a number of books and who is now 81, but apparently still going strong.)

Who is David Walliams?

David Walliams OBE is an English actor comedian, writer and television personality. He was born David Edward Williams in 1971 in Surrey and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Drama) from the University of Bristol. He began performing with the National Youth Theatre in the 1990s where he met his comedy partner, Matt Lucas. He changed his stage name from Williams to Walliams when he joined Collage Equity because there was already a member called David Williams. From 2002 to 2005 he co-wrote and co-starred in the popular BBC comedy show, Little Britain. He went on to write for and act in a number of other popular British programs.

Since 2012 he has been a judge on the ITV talent show, Britain's Got Talent. In 2015, 2018 and 2019 he received recognition for Best Judge at the National Television Awards.

He began writing children's books in 2008 and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. He has been compared to Roald Dahl in style.

He received an OBE in 2017 for services to charity and the arts. His charity work includes swimming the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar and River Thames, raising millions of pounds for the BBC charity, Sport Relief.