Mr Gum and the Goblins

The third in Stanton's wickedly surreal series about the dastardly (and disgusting) Mr Gum and the inhabitants of Lamonic Bibber, in which Polly and Friday climb Goblin Mountain to battle anew with the forces of evil.

Stanton's earlier episodes have found great favour not only with the awards shortlisters, but particularly with the primary school mindset, which relishes all that is smelly, anarchic, entertaining, over-the-top and outrageous.

Mr Gum presents as a twenty-first century take on a Roald Dahl nightmare, and as such inversely inspires, the older the reader gets. Small quantities of clear print on each page, liberally (and hilariously) illustrated, and a style to encourage the adventurous use of language makes this an excellent book for newly confident readers.