FernFolio

Mr. Gum lives in a great old disaster of a house in the village of Lamonic Bibber.  A nasty, lazy old man with filthy habits, he hates housework, animals (other than insects) and most of the village people, except Billy William the Third, a butcher whose shop is as smelly and unpleasant as Mr. Gum’s house.  But Mr. Gum’s garden is lovely – full of beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees and lawns.  It’s lovely because of the bad-tempered fairy who lives in Mr. Gum’s bathtub and who hits Mr. Gum with a frying pan if he doesn’t keep it looking nice.
When a big friendly dog named Jake shows up in Lamonic Bibber, the residents are thrilled.  They love Jake’s happy and exuberant nature, and look forward to his visits to their gardens, even though he tends to make rather a mess, because they believe those visits bring good luck.  However, when Jake discovers Mr. Gum’s garden and starts paying daily visits to roll around in the flower beds and tear up the grass, Mr. Gum is furious.  The daily messes have the bad-tempered fairy hitting Mr. Gum to get him out and working in the garden when all Mr. Gum wants to do is laze about and play Butcher Darts with Billy William the Third.
So Mr. Gum devises an evil plan to rid himself of Jake.  Only a little girl called Polly (by her friends) can stop Mr. Gum, if she can convince Friday O’Leary to help her when he seems more interested in playing tennis.
You’re a Bad Man, Mr. Gum! is a hilarious adventure, full of quirky characters and told by an author who clearly has a highly developed sense of the absurd!  A fun read for students from Grade 3 to 6, this book is reminiscent of the works of Roald Dahl!
FernFolio Editor