Good evening. Do you like bears called Padlock? Course you do. Do you like hot-air balloons? Course you do. Do you like tall sailing ships with mad sea captains, and horrifying old villains and words like ‘wab!’, ‘tungler’ and ‘kelp’? COURSE you do!

Well, guess what, you lucky little nibbleheads? This book’s got all of those things - and a lot more besides. It’s a rollicker! It’s a frolicker! It’s a fun-time sun-time yollicker! So what you waiting for? GET LISTENING!

Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear is the fifth in the internationally bestselling series by Andy Stanton, which has won everything from the Blue Peter Book Award (twice) to the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Red House Children’s Book Award. The books have been translated into over 25 languages worldwide, and have sold over 4 million copies.

Good evening. This is Andy Stanton, professional children’s author and part-time marshmallow. Hey, do you like hearing ‘Mr Gum’ read out loud by a complete idiot? Well, then, you’re in luck, because - for your entertainment, amusement and annoyance - every single word of these audio books is spoken by ME! And not only that, but these recordings are absolutely JAM-PACKED with silly voices, weird sound effects and utterly ridiculous songs (sorry about my singing, by the way, it’s appalling).

So there you have it - what are you waiting for? GET LISTENING, YOU NIBBLEHEADS!