Andy Joel Stanton (born 14 November 1973) is an English children's writer. He is best known for writing the ''Mr Gum'' series (illustrated by David Tazzyman), through which he made a popular contribution to children's literature. Stanton's writing is influenced by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

and

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

Life

Stanton grew up in the London suburbs of Harrow and Pinner and attended

Latymer Upper School Latymer Upper School is a public school in Hammersmith, London, England, on King Street. It derives from a charity school, and is part of the same 1624 Latymer Foundation, from a bequest by the English legal official Edward Latymer. There ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. He studied English at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, but was "kicked out". He has worked as a film script reader, a cartoonist, and as a temporary medical secretary for the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Works

Source:

''Mr Gum''

Books

The ''Mr Gum'' books are set in the fictitious town of Lamonic Bibber. The town has its own fictional newspaper, ''The Lamonical Chronicle'', which features on the ''Mr Gum'' website as "Lamonic Bibber's second best and only paper". Characters in the books include Old King Thunderbelly and Polly. The books have won numerous prizes including the 2007

Red House Children's Book Award The Children's Book Award is a British literary award for children's books, run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and previously known as the Red House Children's Book Award. Books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar yea ...

, two

Blue Peter Book Awards The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme ''Blue Peter''. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity ...

for Best Book With Pictures, and the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2008 for ''Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear.'' Stanton has written nine books in the ''Mr Gum'' series, published by

Egmont Books The Egmont Group (officially Egmont International Holding A/S; known as Gutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishi ...

in the UK and illustrated by Tazzyman: * ''You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!'' (2006) * ''Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire'' (2007) * ''Mr Gum and the Goblins'' (2007) * ''Mr Gum and the Power Crystals'' (2008) * ''Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear'' (2008) * ''What's for Dinner, Mr Gum?'' (2009) * ''Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree'' (2010) * ''Mr Gum and the Secret Hideout'' (2011) * ''Mr Gum and the Hound of Lamonic Bibber'' (2011) ''You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!'' and ''Mr Gum and the Hound of Lamonic Bibber'' were later rereleased as special editions, featuring stickers.

Audiobooks

The eight main books in the Mr Gum series were recorded as audiobooks produced and directed by David Tyler for

BBC Audio AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a British publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased ...

, with the author himself reading. Additionally, the first four books in the series were recorded, with

Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Ac ...

narrating, in 2012.

Stage

Stanton wrote the book and lyrics for ''

Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear - The Musical! ''Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear - the Musical!'' is a children's musical with book and lyrics by Andy Stanton and music by Jim Fortune, based on Stanton's children's book of the same name (as part of the ''Mr Gum'' series). Production National ...

'' which premiered at the National Theatre in July 2019. In 2022, the Magdeburg Theater staged a stage version of "Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree", followed in 2023 by "Mr Gum and the Secret Hideout".

Other books

Additionally, Stanton has written several other books published by various publishers: * ''Danny McGee Drinks the Sea'' (2016) * ''Natboff! One Million Years of Stupidity'' (2018) * ''When I Was a Child'' (2019) * ''The Paninis of Pompeii'' (2019) * ''Going to the Volcano'' (2020) * ''The Story of Matthew Buzzington'' (2021) * ''Sterling and the Canary'' (2021) * ''Benny the Blue Whale: One Author's Descent into the Madness of AI'' (2023)

Personal life

Stanton is Jewish. Stanton is one of 12 presidents of

Better Planet Education Better Planet Education (formerly the Young People's Trust for the Environment) is a British charity, founded in 1982 to encourage young people's understanding of the environment. The charity's main goal is to give young people a real awareness o ...

References

External links

Mr Gum
– series website by publisher

Egmont UK The Egmont Group (officially Egmont International Holding A/S; known as Gutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishi ...

. * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Andy Living people English children's writers Writers from the London Borough of Harrow 1973 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Jewish writers People from Harrow, London People from Pinner