book cover

The Demon Dentist

by David Walliams, illustrated by Tony Ross

Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+

Published by HarperCollins Children's Books, 2015

  • Funny

About this book

Strange things are happening in the dead of night. Children who put a tooth under the pillow for the tooth fairy wake to find... a dead slug; a live spider; or hundreds of earwigs creeping beneath their pillow. Evil is at work, but who is behind it? Could it be the Demon Dentist?

This delightfully dark offering from comedian-turned-bestselling author David Walliams is certain to entertain young readers. Tony Ross's illustrations work brilliantly with Walliams's text; there's plenty of fast-paced action; and the jokes are gleefully ghoulish (and often gross). The characters are well-drawn, in particular hero Alife, who is also a carer for his disabled dad, and the terrible villain really is truly demonic.

The dentist is a common phobia amongst children, and the more sensitive might find some of the more nightmarish scenes difficult to take, most notably when Alfie gets all his teeth removed without anaesthetic, his arms and legs held in place with metal cuffs. Yet whilst this book is unlikely to dispel any dentist fears, there's enough humour in the mix to prevent it becoming too terrifying for the majority of young readers.

About the author

Multi-talented David Walliams is the fastest growing children’s author in the UK market, selling an average of 20,000 books each week. David began his publishing career at HarperCollins in early 2008 with his debut novel, The Boy in the Dress, followed by Mr Stink in 2009, Billionaire Boy in 2010 and Gangsta Granny in 2011. Cumulatively, David’s first four titles sold over a million copies in the UK alone. Gangsta Granny went straight to number 1 in the children’s book charts and globally his books have been translated into no fewer than 25 languages.

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