David Walliams - The Beast of Buckingham Palace

It is 2120 and London is in ruins.

The young Prince Alfred has never known a life outside Buckingham Palace but when strange goings-on breach its walls and stalk the corridors in the dead of night, he is thrust into a world of mystery, adventure and monsters.

And when his mother, the Queen, is dragged away to the Tower of London, Alfred must screw up his courage and battle to save her, himself and the entire city.

Brace yourself for an adventure filled with thrills and laughs in an exciting page-turner well-suited for captivating young Key Stage 2 readers.

Genre: fantasy, action, funny

Themes: Belonging, Choices, Discrimination, English, Ethics and Social Justice, Families, Grief / Loss, Humour, Identity, Power, Resilience, The Arts, War and Conflict

Age: 7 years old

Activities

The book is set in London in the year 2120. Get students to imagine their town/village/city in the year 2120. What will school be like? How will we live? What will the food be like?
Haiku. Summarise one of the characters using a Haiku.
Creative writing. Get learners to describe meeting a terrifying beast like the Griffin in the palace. What powers will the animal have? Where will it live? What will it look like?
Analysis and reflection. Walliams does a great job of using character features to demonstrate personality traits. Look through the images of the characters and analyse how their appearance links to their personality (e.g. Lord Protector seems to have sinister motives and has sharp, pointy features).
Research. The book makes reference to many famous London landmarks (Tower of London, Buckingham Palace). Get learners to research these landmarks. What’s their purpose? Where are they located? How long have they been there?

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