I've read a lot of children's books and say with certainty - David Baddiel is far better than David Walliams

This may be a controversial opinion but when it comes to celebrity children’s authors called David, Baddiel beats Walliams hands down. There, I said it. However, while both have been successful in the world of fiction-writing for young people, the former Britain’s Got Talent host wins by a country mile when it comes to sales, but I’m at a complete loss as to why.

With a nine-year-old daughter who constantly has her head in a book, and a five-year-old who enjoys a bedtime story or four, I have been exposed to a huge number of children’s authors, both classic and contemporary. I have read, and listened to, a number of books and excerpts written by both Baddiel and Walliams and, to me, the quality of writing, characters and storylines in Baddiel’s tales are vastly superior to the puerile nonsense penned by Walliams.

Baddiel has sold an impressive 1 million copies but that number is dwarfed when compared to Walliams’ 50 million. And even when you take into account Baddiel has ‘only’ written nine books versus Walliams’ 40, the per-book ratio is still on Walliams’ side.

I appreciate that, generally speaking, any book that gets young people reading has to be a good thing, but when those books are littered with harmful stereotypes, mean spirited and downright nasty character descriptions and endless fart jokes, there are better worlds our children could be getting lost in.

Meanwhile, Baddiel, while featuring minority groups including people of colour and children with disabilities in his stories, does it with such aplomb it doesn’t feel contrived and definitely doesn’t aim to mock or belittle them. His stories feel new and cover untrodden paths while Walliams mostly resorts to overused narratives with trite moral messaging.

During a 2007 BBC documentary titled Little Britain Down Under, Walliams says, "I love cruelty, it's my favourite thing in the world". It shows David, it really shows. But I don’t want the idea that cruelty is fun getting put into the heads of my impressionable little people.

And it’s not just me. There are numerous Reddit discussions where parents are similarly exasperated by the popularity of Walliams’ stories, with one describing him as the “Aldi Roald Dahl” - not my words, but if the cap fits…

And I’m not here simply to bash David Walliams. For instance, I urge kids to check out the David Walliams’ Marvellous Musical Podcast, it is genuinely funny at times, for both young and old, acting as a lighthearted introduction to some of the world’s most revered classical composers.

That said, I encourage parents to step away from the Mr Stink, Ratburger and Gangsta Granny and instead grab your children a copy of Birthday Boy, The Taylor Turbochaser, Future Friend, or any of David Baddiel's wonderfully witty - and most importantly, kind - stories. I feel confident that once a child turns to Baddiel, they’ll wonder what they ever saw in Walliams.