Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear. Andy Stanton

      

       For Vicky and William

      Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear First published 2008 by Egmont UK Limited This edition published 2019 by Egmont UK Limited, The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © 2008 Andy Stanton

      Illustration copyright © 2008 David Tazzyman

      The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2019

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9373 0

      eISBN 978 1 4052 5931 6

      mrgum.co.uk www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library Printed and bound in Great Britain by the CPI Group

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

      Egmont takes its responsibility to the planet and its inhabitants very seriously. We aim to use papers from well-managed forests run by responsible suppliers.

       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

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Dedication and Copyright page

       Front series promotional page

1 Padlock the Bear

2 The World Champion of the Butcher’s Shop Lying Contest

3 What’s to Be Done with Padlock the Bear?

       4 The Baddies, the Bear and the Balloon

       5 Down by the Docks

       6 Captain Brazil

       7 Life at Sea

       8 Two Men in a Boat

       9 Discovered!

       10 She and the Bear are Put on a Plank and Set Adrift on the Ocean Blue

       11 To the Island

       12 The Hunt for Padlock

       13 Exploring the Island

       14 The Kingdom of the Beasts

       15 The Spirit of the Rainbow?

       16 Home Again

       About the author

       About the illustrator

       PRAISE FOR MR GUM

       Some of the crazy old townsfolk from Lamonic Bibber

       Tales from Lamonic Bibber

       Chapter 1 Padlock the Bear

      Who likes bears? Everyone likes bears. I likes bears, you likes bears, this guy I know called Will Bulman likes bears. Everyone likes bears. They are truly the king of the jungle. They are nature’s way of saying, ‘here’s what bears look like’. They are the best. They are the bears.

      And guess what, bear-likers? You’re in luck, because this story is all about a bear. Not just any bear, mind you, but a startlingly big and handsome specimen who came strolling into the little town of Lamonic Bibber one fine autumn morning. He was a proper fat shaggy rumble-me-tumble sort of a roly-poly flip-flap-flopper of a big brown bear, not like some of these cheap bears you see nowadays who have hardly got any legs and need batteries.

      He was as tall as two men, or about forty hamsters if you could only manage to glue them on top of each other to prove it. And he weighed as much as two hundred watermelons, or roughly nineteen thousand grapes.

      But what about his fur? Well,