Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear

Andy Stanton lives in North London and writes funny books for kids. He's best known for his 'Mr Gum' series, of which there are currently nine titles: 'You're A Bad Man, Mr Gum!'; 'Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire'; and some others he can't be bothered to tell you about at the moment. Check them out on Amazon though, they're all there. 'You're A Bad Man, Mr Gum!' was the overall winner of the 2007 Red House Children's Book Award. That's really good, you get to hang on to a big trophy for a year, just like Wimbledon. They engrave your name on it and everything. That means Andy Stanton's name is near the names of some amazing previous winners, including J.K. Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson, Roald Dahl, just all sorts of quality people. 'Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire' was shortlisted for the Guardian children's Book Award but was beaten by Jenny Valentine's brilliant 'Finding Violet Park'. You should check that out too. Andy's won some other awards, including a couple of Blue Peter awards for Best Book With Pictures; and in 2008, he won the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize with 'Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear'. That's a good one, it really is. In 2012 Kate Winslet recorded the first four 'Mr Gum' titles for audiobook versions. That's good, isn't it? Kate Winslet! Aside from 'Mr Gum' Andy has also written 'The Story of Matthew Buzzington' and 'Sterling and the Canary'; not to mention a disgraceful picture book called 'Here Comes The Poo Bus!' It's a horror. Acclaim: 'Funny? You bet, and the humour is not of the willy, poo, bum variety. Here sad squirrels blow their noses on passing butterflies, people speak funty - sorry funny... Worryingly splendid.' Philip Ardagh, Guardian 'This is a riot' Danny Baker, BBC London 'Andy Stanton accumulates silliness and jokes in an irresistible, laughter-inducing romp' Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week 'A delightfully grim adventure' Radio Times 'raucous, revoltingly rambunctious and nose-snortingly funny' Daily Mail '...wonderful and whimsical nonsense...' Sunday Express 'The Mr Gum books should be compulsory consumption for every primary school child' Junior Education 'It provoked long and painful belly laughs from my daughter, who is eight, and gave her an idea of how unruly and mischievous literature can be' Daily Telegraph