Walliams visits the Arctic in latest fiction adventure

David Walliams’ November releases will be a novel about about an ice monster in Victorian times and a picture book about a baby penguin who wants to fly, HarperCollins Children’s Books has confirmed.

The Ice Monster, out in hardback (£14.99) and e-book on 6th November, is about a girl in Victorian London who hears about the arrival of a mysterious ice monster - a woolly mammoth discovered at the North Pole - and is desperate to find out more. A chance encounter brings Elsie and the mammoth together and they go on an adventure from London to the heart of the Arctic.

“I’ve had a magnificent time writing this book. It is an adventure story set in London in 1899 with a cast including Queen Victoria, the Chelsea Pensioners and a Woolly Mammoth. I am thrilled to finally be sharing it with the world,” said Walliams.

The picture book Geronimo will be published in hardback (£12.99), e-book and audio on 15th November.

Both titles will be illustrated by Tony Ross.

HarperCollins Children’s Books executive publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh said: “Every child now looks forward to the new David Walliams book at Christmas. And with the arrival of his epic new novel, The Ice Monster, they have a treat in store. For the first time ever David takes his readers back in time to the streets of Victorian London where his spirited hero, Elsie, and a woolly mammoth are centre stage in a truly heart-stopping adventure. Exquisitely written, I believe it is David’s biggest and best book yet, demonstrating that after a decade of writing we have a remarkable storyteller at the very height of his powers. Together with his joyful and uplifting picture book, Geronimo, he brings storytelling magic to children across the globe this Christmas.”

Earlier this year HarperCollins released www.thebookseller.com/news/walliams-special-editions-mark-decade-dominance-737736">special editions of some of Walliams' most successful fiction books to celebrate a decade of chart dominance, and the publisher will in November add two new titles to the range: Grandpa’s Great Escape and The Boy in the Dress. They will feature new artwork from the original illustrators, Ross and Quentin Blake, as well as introductions from Walliams, and will be published in hardback on 29th November (£14.99).

In total Walliams has sold 13.9 million books through Nielsen BookScan for £79m. 2017's Bad Dad (his first Christmas number one) has sold a total of 757,703 copies to date.

His top-selling title, Gangsta Granny, has sold £7.9m. Sales of Grandpa’s Great Escape come to £6m and The Boy in the Dress total £4.1m.