Mr. Gum and the Goblins

Image taken from pgcbooks

Title: Mr. Gum and the Goblins

Author: Andy Stanton

Illustrator: David Tazzyman

Genre: Nonsense, Humour

Age Range: 7-11

Theme/Subject: Nonsense

Publisher: Egmont

ISBN: 9781405228169

Synopsis:

Something is rumbling up in the high-distant hills of Goblin Mountain. It is the pitter patter of wild, rampant badgers? Possibly, but it’s more likely to be the angry mob of goblins led by the evil Mr. Gum! Can Polly and her friends put an end to his evil shenanigans before the wonderful town of Lamonic Bibber is left in ruins? Only the badgers know. Well, I know too as I’ve read it.

Review:

I am a huge fan of Andy Stanton and his style of writing. The Mr. Gum series is a fresh injection of nonsense humour. The style of humour smacks of Philip Ardagh only even battier; if that is conceivably possible. Whereas Ardagh (of whom I also thoroughly enjoy) seems to think of a plot first and then weaves his humour around that, I feel that when I read Stanton, he seems to just go with the flow, inject belly-blastingly funny moments and weave a plot around that instead.
For me, what makes the Mr. Gum’s series work so well is Andy Stanton’s utter embrace of pure nonsense and chaos. It is his wonderful play on words and the structure of a story (or even a book for that matter) that drives the reader on. Tazzyman’s scratchy, sketchy pen illustrations help bring Lamonic Bibber to life a little more too (I really liked the goblin pictures – my favourite being Big Steve).
The amount of times I laughed out loud at something funny a character has said or done or a scene that Stanton had created that was just plain daft, I could probably count on my fingers (I have quite a lot of them as I went out and bought a huge bag of ‘Findus Fish Fingers’ this morning). I can see this being a great book to share with someone who has a taste for the silly and shows a touch of Pythonesque humour. Andy Stanton is a unique voice out there at the moment and although not the deepest of writers (which in no uncertain terms is he even attempting to be) certainly must be one for children who will get the most laughs.