The Boy in the Dress, his tale of a cross-dressing child, has drawn accusations of ‘genderless bullying’ after it was featured in a supermarket promotion

David Walliams has reacted to Australians complaining about his novel The Boy in the Dress, saying he wrote it hoping to “change the way people think and feel”, after Aldi customers slammed the supermarket for “pushing social agendas” by selling his book about a cross-dressing child.

On Aldi Australia’s Facebook page, where the retailer had announced a competition to win books, customers wrote that Aldi “should not be selling” Walliams’s story of a boy who wears a friend’s dress to school, accusing it of “pushing social agendas”.

“Excuse me, Aldi Australia, but why are you peddling the child abuse that is ‘The Boy in the Dress’, a novel that promotes children cross-dressing. Are you joining the genderless bully brigade?” wrote one. Another added: “Aldi is joining the bullies. Shame on you Aldi. I messaged you yesterday to complain about this book.”

One customer accused Aldi of selling “inappropriate books for children”, with others announcing they would be boycotting Aldi Australia for selling Walliams’s book, which was first published in 2008.

Some of the commenters linked the novel’s take on gender with Australia’s ongoing debate about introducing same-sex marriage, which is set to go to a postal vote next week. A recent high-profile TV advert by the Coalition for Marriage, which campaigns against marriage equality, includes a mother who says her son was given permission to wear a dress by his school. The ad alleges that: “When same-sex marriage passes as law overseas, this type of programme become [sic] widespread and compulsory.”

Others customers defended the retailer, describing The Boy in the Dress as a “story about acceptance and solidarity” and saying that they would be purchasing it as a result of the controversy.

Walliams himself tweeted a link to the story, saying merely: “It is hard to believe this is 2017.” The children’s author and comedian said on Wednesday: “It is disappointing when people express these attitudes, but that is why I wrote the book in the first place, to hopefully change the way people think and feel about this subject. It is 10 years since the book was published and now boys go to school in dresses as Dennis from The Boy in the Dress for World Book Day. So I think we are heading in the right direction, to a world where being different can be celebrated.”

The Boy in the Dress, praised for its “charm” by Philip Ardagh in the Guardian, was also adapted into a film by BBC1 three years ago.

In a statement to news.com.au, Aldi said that it had “no intention of removing The Boy in the Dress from sale”.

“The book tells the story of freedom of expression and tolerance,” it said. “This forms part of a range from David Walliams, the third biggest children’s book author in Australia, and is available throughout a number of major retailers.”