I have always been a fan of David Walliams books and for the last few years, usually looked forward to the new book that was in the pipeline. Through this I have become somewhat of a Walliams books connoisseur.

Mr Walliams’ new book Ratburger is quite different from his previous works, the only connection to his four previous books being that the protagonist is a child whom is different from other children and bullied because of this. Zoe in her case because she has braces, red hair, and is smaller then the others, the poor thing. There is not much joy to get for her at home either, with a wicked stepmother (a vile creature) who torments her and a kind but weak father who is always down the pub drowning his sorrows. To top all that the family is also extremely poor.

The only joy in little Zoe’s life is her little hamster whom she trains to dance, dreaming of Ashleigh and Pudsey style fame. But, of course, the pet dies.

Zoe is inconsolable, until one night she finds a cute baby rat she immediately loves. What follows is a quest to keep the rat a secret for the wicked step mum and everyone at school. And to keep him safe from that strange man lurking in front of the school with his van.

The interesting thing with this book is that it is not a predictable start, set up, middle, ending story. There are strange twists and turns around every corner that should keep kids as well as adults hooked. Some of the sequences near the end had even me squirming and some of the food descriptions made me feel a little queasy.

Let me say: some children just might not want to eat burgers again after this, which should make one Jamie Oliver very happy (perhaps he should hand this book out to children at schools instead of his healthy grub, they’d certainly enjoy it a lot more.)

The novel is a clever way of making children aware of how their food is actually made. That the burger on their plate was a living breathing being. It also raises the point of animal testing and it’s cruelties, but all this without moralistic overtones. Very impressive.

All in all a great book with a special message “never give up on your dreams”. Another classic.

This post was written by guest blogger and reality TV showbiz observer Daniel Cohen. Catch up with him on Twitter here!

Watch the launch of Ratburger with David Walliams and Stephen Mulhern below:

Watch David read a bit of his hero Dahl dressed as the actual BFG here: