For Tom Ralis and his class at Cherry Orchard Primary
Mr Gum and the Goblins First published 2007 by Egmont UK Limited This edition published 2019 by Egmont UK Limited, The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road London W11 4AN
Text copyright © 2007 Andy Stanton
Illustration copyright © 2007 David Tazzyman
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
First e-book edition 2019
ISBN 978 1 4052 9371 6
Ebook ISBN 978 1 4052 5929 3
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
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Read all of Andy Stanton’s books!
You’re a Bad Man, MR GUM!
MR GUM and the Biscuit Billionaire
MR GUM and the Goblins
MR GUM and the Power Crystals
MR GUM and the Dancing Bear
What’s for Dinner, MR GUM?
MR GUM and the Cherry Tree
MR GUM and the Secret Hideout
Meet some of the townsfolk of Lamonic Bibber
Contents
3 In the Court of the Goblin King
4 You’re A Bad Man, Mr Launderette!
5 The Meeting at the Stone Table
7 The Three Impossible Challenges
9 Polly and Friday in the Cave
In The Dead Of Winter
IT was the Dead Of Winter and the little town of Lamonic Bibber lay under a blanket of snow and ice. Everywhere you looked, there was snow and ice. On the trees – snow and ice. On the ground – snow and ice. Inside the Museum of Snow and Ice – snow and ice. It was the coldest winter anyone could remember.
Inside the inns and taverns the men folk sat around blazing log fires, drinking their ale and telling stories of never-to-be-forgotten heroes like Whatsisname and That Tall Man In The Shirt Who Killed All Those Dragons. In the houses, mothers put their young ones to bed, soothing them with gentle lullabies about fierce lions and crocodiles. In a little cottage by the meadow, a hobbit sat reading The Lord of the Rings and microwaving his feet to keep warm. ’Twas the Dead
