You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!

My son laughs and laughs at You're a Bad Man Mr. Gum! He absolutly adores it, which to me is a sign of a great children's book. The book is whity and creative enough that you won't mind listening to it 200 times, since I swear that is how many times my son has put this on. I think laughter is so good for kids, and I highly recomend this for children in need of a book that will keep them giggling. The author does a fantastic job voicing the production. Five stars for this one!

Mr. Gum really is a bad man. He's slimy and gross and mean to children. But there's this little fairy who whacks him on the head with a frying pan whenever he neglects his garden. As a result, Mr. Gum's garden is the "prettiest, greeniest, floweriest, gardeniest garden in the whole of Lamonic Bibber." Lamonic Bibber is a town. (This book takes place in England, you see, where pan-whacking fairies and strange town names are the norm.) Anyhoo, enter Jake, "a massive whopper of a dog," who wreaks havoc on Mr. Gum's garden with a conga line of moles in party hats. Needless to say, Mr. Gum is not pleased. In fact, he is mightily bruised from the enormous pan-whacking that ensues. So our scowling villain decides to do away with Jake in a most heinous, hideous way. Fortunately, along comes Polly, a "girl worth liking," who's determined to foil Mr. Gum's plan even if she has to team up with a questionable old hero named Friday O'Leary. And you know what? We think we'll just stop here and let you read it for yourself. You really should. It's a whopper and a half. And then pass it on to any kid you know who enjoys books by Bruce Hale, Jim Benton, or Jon Scieszka. Or any a kid you know who needs a laugh. Or any adult, for that matter. Wafflemongers especially.

I thought this book was so funny, I couldnt stop laughing. The writing style is so great the author adds a lot to lines to make them hilarious. Mr Gum is a really bad and evil man who happens to have the best garden in the world until the friendly town dog finds it and tears everything up. Mr Gum comes up with a plan to get rid of the dog. Polly a local girl finds out his plan and must come up with a way to stop him. Definetly a book to check out. I would highly recommend for 3rd grade and above. I will definetly check out this authors future books.