BBC Physical Audio You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum!: Children's Book: Performed and Read by Andy Stanton (1 of 8 in the Mr Gum Series)

What a lovely surprise this book was! I would recommend this book to free reader children from the age of 8 and above, or to be read to by an adult from the age of 7.As the title says, we moved onto these after Horrid Henry, Captain Underpants and Diary of a wimpy kid. The language is a little older than in those other books, and the humour is based around how it describes what’s happening. Younger children won’t understand this humour, so if you have a child whose reading level is above average, it still might not be appreciated.I would compare it a little to Roald Dahl’s or David Walliam’s style, but much less ‘heavy’.I won’t give any of the story away, because I think that spoils it, but when I found out more books had been published, I was very pleased.

Bought for my son’s age 6 & 8 who are big David Walliams and Roald Dahl fans. Andy Stanton came up as a similar author so thought we would try it, but unfortunately this was nothing like their books. It was strange rather than funny with a lot of the ‘jokes’ falling flat and used insults I really didn’t want them repeating. Also be aware it’s only approx 40 mins long so no good for long car journeys. Not for us

Trying to get my 7 year old son interested in any books that weren't dinosaur encyclopaedias or other factual books has been quite a challenge. Not any more... Hooray for Andy Stanton and hooray for Mr Gum! I LOVE these books, and having had my fill of Horrid Henry I now look forward to reading at bed time. We are working our way though the whole series and not one has been a disappointment. It's not all farting, burping and being disrespectful to adults (unlike the aforementioned Horrid Henry - what are we teaching our children!?) but it is gruesome and smelly enough to keep a 7 year old engaged and the adults laughing aloud. Like all good children's TV or books, the humour is on two levels so that everyone can appreciate it. I really cannot recommend the Mr Gum series highly enough.

Between us, we have read lots of books but this is the best, by far! We are a Primary 4/5 class of children and were delighted when we discovered that we would be reading this book as our class topic.You're a Bad Man Mr. Gum is about a bad man who lives in a 'grimsters' house with a 'gardeny' garden. Inside Mr. Gum's bathtub lives an angry fairy, who whacks him with a frying pan whenever his garden is messed up. The problem is, a loveable dog called Jake, visits his glorious garden every day (except Wednesdays) and he rolls on the grass, chews up the flowers and even leaves 'little gifts'. Mr. Gum plots to poison Jake with old cow hearts.What makes the book so legendary is Andy Stanton's use of catchy catchphrases, made-up words and onomatopoeia - WHACK! He often uses unusual fonts which add a new dimension to the words he uses. The characters range from being amusing to ridiculous, making the whole book seriously funny to read. He includes songs, similes and little puzzles throughout the book, which we all loved.Some other reviewers think that the use of inappropriate language (little gifts) is unnecessary. We agree that it is a little bit cheeky but it is funny all the same.We would recommend this book to anyone who likes a laugh. It is an imaginative adventure in your head!The children of P4/5 LA

I decided to belatedly review this item when my eldest daughter dragged it out of her shelf and began to read it to her little brother. Although she is admittedly too old for it now, at 14, when I first got it for her she was 8 and read it easily on her own. Now she can share it with her siblings. It made everyone laugh a lot and when I realised I hadn't reviewed it all that time ago, I thought it deserved one now. This book really is brilliant.