This follows on from the success of Grandpa’s Great Escape, Awful Auntie, Demon Dentist, Ratburger and Gangsta Granny. All went straight to Children’s number one on release with Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy selling over a million copies to date. I thought Robodog was a great book for kids, it had some fun and fantastic characters. The Professor, the lost patrol, Robodog and his friend Ratty were my favourite characters. Little Britain’, which he co-created with Matt Lucas, started on Radio 4 and soon progressed to BBC1. The show has won numerous international awards including three BAFTAs, and now plays in over 100 countries. ‘Little Britain Live’ performed to a million people in the UK, Ireland and Australia. David and Matt followed ‘Little Britain’ with the hugely popular spoof airport documentary series 'Come Fly With Me'. Bedlam, once a home to ordinary people, is now a city infested with rats and is as dangerous as it is filthy. It is ruled by the baddest of baddies and badly needs its own superhero to defeat these supervillains. These baddies include Velma, the chief and professor's cat; mighty mind, the master mind who is just a mega-brain floating in a fish bowl and is behind the notorious robberies in the city of Bedlam; and Hammerheads, mighty mind's henchperson who lost her hands and uses a hammer on each side as a replacement for her hands. Unlike Dave Pilkey’s somewhat stupid Dog Man, Robodog is not only brave, strong intelligent, and capable of heroic deeds, he is also a very likeable character who cries tears of oil when sad and whose biggest dream is to be a real dog, loved by his human parents. Walliams succeeds in combining his self-confessed love for the canine world with an amusing adventure story for young readers. Ratty, the rat-mouse, also plays a monumental role in teaching Robodog, and thus also the readers, life skills and healthy perceptions, such as acceptance of those different from you and the value of friendship and loyalty.

The illustrations are by Adam Stower and the book is suitable for readers of eight years and older. David Walliams is fast becoming a global phenomenon in the world of children’s literature – his ability to wow fans is unprecedented with global sales over 14.1 million. His most recent fiction title, The World’s Worst Children, published on 19th May 2016 sold over 340,000 copies in the UK alone. It went straight to No. 1 on release where it stayed for 4 weeks and also concurred Children’s Books charts, where it stayed at No.1 for 7 weeks. Internationally sales continue to thrive, The World’s Worst Children also went straight to No. 1 in the Australian children’s chart and remained there for three consecutive weeks and reached the No. 1 in the overall book chart in New Zealand. The Chief relies on the city Police Dog Training school to produce excellent crime-fighters to help her and her police force control the city’s baddies, but even this isn’t working any more. She needs MORE. What could possibly help the city of Bedlam? And then she gets an idea!

As well as being a No.1 best-selling Children’s author, David Walliams is one of Britain's most popular writers and comic actors. The bedlam in Bedlam really steps up. There is a billion dollar robbery to be foiled, where only a rat who swears he’s a mouse can save the day. Velma is determined to wipe not only Robodog off the planet but every other dog in Bedlam, and suddenly every villain has escaped from Bedlam Prison. What is a Robodog to do? The Police Chief needs a hero. Fortunately, she is married to a brilliant scientist-inventor, the Professor, whose speciality is actually washing machines, but she is able to use spare parts to build the ultimate crime fighter, called Robodog. This robotic hero has the strength of a German shepherd, can follow a scent like a bloodhound, barks louder than a spaniel, has the speed of a greyhound, the pride of a terrier, the bravery of a schnauzer and is as keen nosed as a beagle. Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny, The Boy in the Dress and Billionaire Boy have all been adapted into TV comedy dramas. David’s books have also been made into theatre productions including Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny, Ratburger and The First Hippo on the Moon.

As well as his Children’s fiction, David has also published four number one bestselling picture books, his latest, The Bear Who went Boo! was published in November 2015 and has had total sales of over 85,000 to date. The Queen’s Orang-utan, David’s third picture book was written exclusively for Comic Relief with David giving all of his proceeds from the book to the charity. Since I am not the target audience for this book, I don’t think my issues with it will affect young readers as there are so many crazy elements to this story for them to love. I can easily see this book becoming a fast favourite with young readers, I am just sad that I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped I would.David has proved himself as a dramatic actor in BBC2's 'Capturing Mary' with Dame Maggie Smith, in BBC1's Agatha Christie series 'Partners In Crime', as Frankie Howerd in the biopic ‘Rather You Than Me’ for BBC4, and on the stage in Harold Pinter’s 'No Man’s Land' starring alongside Sir Michael Gambon. He received the Comedy Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his performance as Bottom in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directed by Michael Grandage. As a brand, The World of David Walliams continues to grow: export sales have increased by 77% year on year with growth in every single market and David’s books are published in over 49 languages. As a massive fan of David Walliams, I was excited to get my hands on this book. I had high hopes for this one but unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I have a few ideas on why this book didn’t work for me but it genuinely surprised me that I didn’t love this book. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

Robodog is more on the silly side of the Walliams book scale, but there are plenty of laughs for young readers. This would be a great read aloud for years 6 and up, and fine for readers 7+. There are words that will stretch vocabs but all age appropriate. Their cat Velma is horrified at the idea. She has had the Chief and Professor to herself all this time. Why on earth would they introduce a dog of all things to her happy household? She goes completely mad when the Professor presents ROBODOG!Robodog by David Williams is the perfect book for every dog lover. I absolutely loved the illustrations by Adam Stower. The city of Bedlam has a HUGE crime problem. The Police Chief is stressed out as she can’t seem to get ahead of it, and the entire city is now suffering. There is rubbish everywhere, smog in the air and pollution in the rivers. He’s the newest recruit at the Police Dog School and is supercharged for adventure. But can he stop the most feared duo in Bedlam, and their evil plans to ruin the city . . .?’