Santa & Son

by David Walliams, Adam Stower (Illustrator)

From number one king of comedy David Walliams comes his first Christmas caper – packed full of hilarious toy-shop action!

The perfect Christmas gift for kids of all ages

Hilarious seasonal adventure from king of comedy David Walliams

A fun, funny and heartwarming story for the whole family

It’s the night of Christmas Eve.

In the most famous toy shop in the world, a robbery is underway. The shop’s Santa and his son are locked inside with the baddies.

Can our heroes stop them using just the toys in the shop as weapons? Pogo sticks! Bouncy balls! Remote-controlled helicopters! Bubble guns! Slime! Slinkies! Stink bombs!

Santa & Son is a hilarious action adventure, and sure to become a Christmas classic.

Genres: Christmas, Audiobook, Fantasy

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 23, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

David Walliams is an actor and writer best known for his work with Matt Lucas in the multi-award-winning sketch show Little Britain. His debut children's novel, The Boy in the Dress, was published in 2008 to unanimous critical acclaim and he has since developed a reputation as a natural successor to Roald Dahl.

Reviews

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super adorable, hilarious, and engaging adventure.
Slapstick comedy featuring a festive showdown packed with toys.
This was an excellent way to start the Christmas season

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️s

This book was a total blast and packed with amusement.


Audiobook via BorrowBox
Published by Bolinda/HarperCollins UK
Read by David Walliams
Duration: 3 hrs 52 min. 1.25x Speed

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Andrew Sammut · Rating 4 out of 5]

A FEW SPOILERS AHEAD bought this one from the agenda stand at the Malta Book Festival of 2025 xx This was published just a few days ago and I had a lovely time reading it. I've recently been trying to get into the Christmas spirit since Christmas is less than two months away and I found this one to be extremely enjoyable. Elvis basically meets his father dressed as Santa on Christmas Eve after not having seen him for 5 years since his dad had walked out of the family and then goes on the have the craziest adventure during the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I do have a few issues with this one however. The bad guys were meant to steal loads of money but they blew it all up, they then destroyed the entire building, and Elvis and his father only contributed to wrecking it some more. I would have thought that in an ideal world the bad guys would have been tied up and the police called rather than spending a good 200 pages destroying the store from which they were meant to steal a bunch of money. It was a fun read and I do understand that it's meant to be imaginative, magical, and wholesome however the bad guys surely could have done better.

The good guys did manage to fix the entire building thanks to Santa's elves towards the end of the story and Bozo even got a happy ending which I think he deserved however when one is dealing with such brilliant criminals as are Rose and Des (they're still alive in case a sequel needs to be written), Elvis (named after the Rock 'n' Roll King) should not have had such an easy time defeating them. Not that he did since he destroyed the entire store in the process and almost died on several occasions taking out both his father and an elderly man with him. I really did enjoy how Walliams occasionally breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly with the readers but at this stage I'm not surprised since he basically destroyed every wall in Londinium which was a strange thing to do. This certainly gave off Home Alone vibes but with more destruction and near-death experiences. I also really enjoyed how so much attention is paid to nurses and the NHS since Elvis' mom is one and she works several hours a week whilst doing her job passionately and not earning much which is an absolute shame. They deserve much more attention and respect especially around Christmastime. I am almost certain that this one will get a sequel since the ending leaves so much to desire.

[Tara Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first David Williams book. I had high hopes as he seems to be quite popular at the library. He narrates this audiobook with a few extra voice actors. The narration was great, ready to listen to and the voice actors added depth to the experience.

Unfortunately, even with recent allegations in the media aside, I was really disappointed. The language used was so brash, the way the characters talked to each other was awful to listen to. OTT.

I will probably never put a David Walliams book in the hands of my boys simply for the rude, mocking language. Just not a style of humour writing that I enjoy or want my boys to read.

One positive I will note: the main character, Elvis, is very caring and respectful of his mother. Thank you for that, David.

[Chelsea May xxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in a day as that was how much I was enjoying this story and I wanted to see how it ended. The main character Elvis was such a sweet little boy all he wanted was to found his dad and he did that. I liked how the story was so well told. Elvis and his dad after save a children’s shop for being blown up but sadly that don’t mange that but at the end of the book Santa comes to the rescue which I really liked. The only issue was for me that there was 3 characters in this book that annoyed me and I didn’t like them at all but I understand why they’re in the book. David Walliams knows how to write a book. Xxx

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun premise with a story drawn out to maximum effect with the usual artistic flair on the page of various fonts and fun illustrations. Walliams (or his writing team?!) stick to the formula that sells books. The writing is at a middle grade level but while compared to Dahl, the depth of the story is sacrificed for a more saleable format..

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the best David Williams books ever.It just brings up the Christmas spirt so much to read a Christmasy book before bed each night. Highly recommend i am 13 years old and i could read more complex books but i always come back to mr Williams and its such and easy read cause of the way her writes it.

[Ada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook read by David Walliams and the audiobook experience was amazing, it felt so realistic and funny. I imagine it would be a fun read too with the illustrations which no doubt are gorgeous too

[Elsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heheh

[Keithy Galiuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny book

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty easy to write a kids book I reckon.
Harder to get it noticed and published unless you’re famous.
Thought I’d better get this one finished before Walliams goes down in flames!

[Ross Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! That was a good christmas read for kids. Lots of adventure with toys.

[Paola Micheli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the month!!!
( ˘ ³˘) 💕

The book and the audiobook together is an amazing experience!
Loved it from the first page till the end!

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted the mystery character to be Raj... I miss you Raj!

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy divertido y fácil de leer. Perfecto para esta época del año.

[Nicole]

I'm only dnfing this book because I KNOW that it's going to be a 5 star
but I didn't read it in time and Christmas have pasted!

I'm saving it for next year!!!