I first read this book about a year ago and I thought it was brilliant. It’s a great book to read aloud because the way Pig speaks is so cool. I also loved the hierarchy of animals in the farm. The chickens are a particular delight.
The Mr Gum books have become absolute classics for children who love funny books and appeal to those with a wacky style of humour.
You’re A Bad Man, Mr.Gum is a stonkingly funny read from Andy Stanton, full of pure silliness and with a track record of delighting children aged 7-10. Mr Gum is mean, untidy, grumpy and grizzly, but he is very good at keeping his garden neat. When an excitable giant dog called Jake makes a mess in Mr Gum’s garden, Mr Gum’s mean streak comes out in hilarious and fairly ineffective ways.
Children enjoy the randomness of the dialogue, the unpredictable plot, the funny character names and the author’s witty asides. Illustrations capture the madcap tone of the book and add to the fun.
One of the first books I remember reading and laughing my head off about was Silly Verse for Kids by Spike Milligan. To this day, Spike remains one of my comedy heroes because he was silly. I love laughing at silly things and I suppose I always will. So, poems like Granny, were (and are) a treat to read out loud.
Through every nook and every cranny
The wind blew in on poor old granny
Around her knees, into each ear
(Up her nose as well, I fear)
I’m going to get a bit gushy about this book. I think this might have been the book that made me think that I might want to write down funny things. It is SO funny and SO sad and SO tender and SO warm and SO heartbreaking. It’s such a skilfully observed book that so evokes what it was like to be a spotty teenager in the mid 1980s that I honestly thought Sue Townsend might have reached inside my brain. I read and re-read this a million times and the good news is that the sequel, the Growing Pains of Adrian Mole is just as good.
I am a fully-paid up member of the Dav Pilkey appreciation society. He is just a fantastically funny writer. The Captain Underpants books (and the Dogman spin-offs) are AMAZING. My son and I love sitting together and reading them. Like a lot of brilliant illustrators, Dav understands how funny the medium itself can be and really plays with space on the page and design and stuff like that. These are totes recommended.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments