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"I want kids to enjoy it": David Walliams on the challenge of writing, 'Santa & Son'

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九一星空无限talk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 2 Dec 2025, 9:44am
David Walliams attends a performance of one of his previous works, "Awful Auntie", at Richmond Theatre on May 09, 2024 in Richmond, England. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images)
David Walliams attends a performance of one of his previous works, "Awful Auntie", at Richmond Theatre on May 09, 2024 in Richmond, England. (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images)

"I want kids to enjoy it": David Walliams on the challenge of writing, 'Santa & Son'

Author
九一星空无限talk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 2 Dec 2025, 9:44am

Although he鈥檚 best known for his comedy, David Walliams has a growing portfolio of children鈥檚 literature. 

He鈥檚 sold more than 60 million copies worldwide and has just released his 44th book 鈥楽anta & Son鈥, just in time for Christmas. 

He released his first children鈥檚 book in 2008, and even after 17 years and nearly 50 books, Walliams still finds writing to be a challenging task.  

鈥淵ou鈥檙e constantly scared, you think, oh my god, I鈥檓 gonna run out of ideas, or you think, oh god, this is too similar to something I鈥檝e already done,鈥 he told Mike Hosking.  

鈥淭he thing I try and do is move as far away as I can from something I鈥檝e just done, because the thing is you just don鈥檛 want to repeat yourself.鈥  

A lot of his earlier works were set contemporary Britain and revolved around schools, and after a while he found he鈥檇 run out of ways to make a teacher character work. 

鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of any more traits that would make teachers funny,鈥 he told Hosking. 

鈥淪o I thought I just have to move away from that and find different stories.鈥 

鈥淚 sort of have to make it difficult for myself just so I don鈥檛 end up going down the same path.鈥 

When it comes to success, Walliams explains that he鈥檚 not competitive in any major way. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see other people who do what I do as sort of foes or anything,鈥 he said. 

鈥淏ut of course I want my book to be well-received, I want kids to enjoy it, I want it to make people happy.鈥  

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