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David Walliams has made £100MILLION from his children’s books


DAVID Walliams has made a staggering £100million from writing children’s books making him one of the country’s highest earning authors.

The 48-year-old is said to have earned £17million in the last year alone, according to The Bookseller magazine, while his latest book The Beast Of Buckingham Palace was published yesterday.

 David Walliams has made a staggering £100million from writing children's books

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David Walliams has made a staggering £100million from writing children’s booksCredit: Rex Features

Comedian Frankie Boyle joked its title was timely given Prince Andrew’s disastrous interview with Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis over his links to paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Walliams has written 13 children’s story books, produced seven picture titles and four collections of short stories since 2008.

The books include Mr Stink, The Boy in the Dress, Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy, Ratburger, Demon Dentist, Awful Auntie and Grandpa’s Great Escape.

They have proved wildly popular, with his second book Mr Stink winning the People’s Book Prize in 2009.

 The 48-year-old is said to have earned £17million in the last year alone

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The 48-year-old is said to have earned £17million in the last year aloneCredit: Rex Features

David’s first five books sold a total of 2.2 million copies in the UK, and a further 200,000 worldwide.

The star recently told The Sun that for all his achievements, his favourite thing was being a dad.

He said: “I love being a dad. It is the best thing of all and totally life-changing. You feel there is finally some meaning to your life. Everything you do after they come along is for them or relates to them.”

The Little Britain star reads to six-year-old son Alfred — the result of his five-year marriage to model Lara Stone, which ended in 2015 — as often as possible but prefers not to read his own stories.

 David recently hosted an evening with Elton John at the Hammersmith Apollo

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David recently hosted an evening with Elton John at the Hammersmith ApolloCredit: Getty

David said: “I don’t push my books on to him. I don’t want him to grow up and feel like ‘We never read any books other than my dad’s’. But reading with my son is one of the best parts of being a father. It is a pleasure to share the stories I loved as a child, like the Dahl and Dr Seuss books, and discover new ones.

“I’d urge all parents to make time to read with their children, as it is a joy for both of you. What could be better than firing their imagination just before they drift off to sleep?”

The Little Britain star’s fourth collection of stories The World’s Worst Teachers came out earlier this year. It is a successor to his three volumes of World’s Worst Children, and is a collection of ten hilarious stories about imaginary gruesome teachers.

The characters include headmaster Mr Phobe, who is terrified of kids, and Miss Spick, an elderly librarian who rampages around on a mobility scooter.

David said: “These stories are like twisted morality tales. They are quite extreme. Something big and surreal happens in each one.”

While he manages to drop in highbrow references to ­Beethoven, Chekhov and ­Sophocles in his books, David is not afraid of some good, honest toilet humour.

 David with his beloved border terriers, Bert and Ernie, and mum Kathleen

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David with his beloved border terriers, Bert and Ernie, and mum Kathleen

In the book, he has a story called Doctor Dread And The Chair Of A Thousand Farts, about a science teacher from the Grunge Hill School.

The teacher is a half-man, half-monster who has a white lab coat stained with egg, snot, drool and lard. He blows off all the time in his chair and as a punishment makes kids sit in it.

David said: “I admit I have done more jokes about farts than most people. But it’s part of life. Even Shakespeare has jokes about that.

“It reduces everybody to the same level and it’s part of what makes us human. Everyone loves the word ‘fart’ — kids and adults. Kids of a certain age love talking about anything to do with going to the toilet. I know my son does. I always like to make my books a little bit naughty, forbidden.

“There are a lot of very twee books for kids. But I always wanted to read and watch the thing I am not allowed to. I wanted to watch Mad Max, Scarface and Porkies. Not Black Beauty or The Wombles.”


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