This is the fourth David Walliams book that I have read with my son and was another great overall read.
David Walliams probably isn't someone you would associate with children's books however his comic genius that you may be familiar with from his TV shows translates well into a written format.
The story centres around a 12 year old boy, Joe Spud, whose father is rich, and when I say rich I mean ridiculously filthy stinking rich!
Joe has everything that he wants, including his own Formula 1 racing track in the back garden. He attents one of the best private schools in England but life wasn't always like this. His dad used to work in a toilet roll factory before he invested a new type of toilet roll that was ultra successful.
Joe's mum left his dad and it is just the two of them in the massive house. Joe is spoilt rotten by his dad but there are some things that money cannot buy, including a friend.
The problem with Joe's posh school is that all of the other children make fun of him because of how his dad made his fortune. Joe therefore demands to attend the local comprehensive school and his dad, reluctantly agrees.
There, Joe makes a friend but before long the money gets in the way and starts to cause trouble. Joe pays off some bullies to help his friend and things go downhill from there. His dad tries to help by hiring an actress to be Joe's friend but this soon unravels and causes a rift between father and son!
Ultimately disaster strikes when people have an allergic reaction to one of his dad's new products and the family lose all of their money. During this time Joe, and his dad, realise that the money never really made them happy and the book finishes with some heart warming scenes that see Joe reconcile with his friend and his father.
As always, the humour in the book works really well and makes it a nice easy read both for children and adults (I still cannot work out who likes David Walliams as an author more, me or my son!). The book is long enough to tell the story but without lots of extra detail that slows down the pace and will lose to children's attention being lost.
We also have the same mix of characters that you will either love or hate, many of which are somewhat stereotypical. There's the doddery old headmaster, the affable newsagent (Raj who has featured in several other books), the kindly dinner lady (whose cooking is terrible) and the evil history teacher who delights in punishing students for no reason. This is all topped off with the money grabbing page 3 model that is, at one point, engaged to Joe's dad but disappears as quickly as the money does.
That said there are a few, minor gripes. The plot was very predictable - you knew as soon as Joe met his friend whose mother was single that Joe's dad would end up marrying her, for example. It doesn't spoil the book though as the humour and well written story keeps you turning the pages anyway.
My main gripe is some of the language. In particular I had to skip words like 'slag' which I wouldn't have expected to be in this book based on the others that I had read. Thankfully I managed to think of an alternative word fast enough to not draw any attention to this but something to be mindful of, especially if you have children who are at the age where they question everything (and if you do then you will know what I mean!).
Overall I would recommend reading this book and would be interested in hearing your thoughts on it too.
A link to the book is below for anyone who may wish to see what others think or get a copy for themselves.
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