Mr Gum and the Goblins

I read a lot of funny books. I read ones that make my classes laugh. It is genuinely rare to read books that make me laugh out loud as I read, but Mr Gum has done it every time.

Stanton continues to take readers to a little Britain of bizarre characters, such as Alan Taylor, the gingerbread-man Headteacher and Friday O’Leary, the wise man who can be truly stupid.

The storylines continue to be absurd and depend heavily on humorous exchanges and strange behaviour. In this new Mr Gum novel, evil goblins are up to no good, and we soon discover that Mr Gum and his sidekick, the evil butcher Billy William the Third, are in the thick of it all.

Given how akin to the previous two this story is, it’s striking that the formula doesn’t seem to tire. This is partially down to the way Stanton finds fresh wisps of surrealism to float across the scenarios, but mainly it’s down to plain, simple funny jokes. This book is packed full of them, and they’re very funny. Rare though it be, I laughed out loud.