Eve White: Literary Agent

The worlds biggest educational publisher, Pearson, will publish a hardback edition of The Ice Cream Con following superb feedback from teachers on Jimmy Docherty's novel:

A two page article headed 'The stinkiest, grottiest, meanest villain ever', in Junior Education Plus magazine, shows teachers how to use Mr Gum and the Goblins in the classroom to reignite children's passion for reading and to inspire them to write. Read the article

Kirkus Reviews said of Andy Stanton's You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum (Illus. by Chad Dezern):

An outstanding opening carries this debut import past some surreal patches. Mr. Gum "lived in a great big house in the middle of town. Actually, it wasn't that great, because he had turned in into a disgusting pigsty." How bad was it? "Insects lived in the kitchen cupboards, not just small insects but great big ones with faces and names and jobs." He keeps his "garden" perfect, though, so when a huge dog takes to stopping by to tear it up, he soaks three pounds of bad hearts from the butcher in rat poison and sets a trap. A bad man indeed-but no fears: After trotting in a host of characters, from a chorus line of gophers and a good Samaritan with a severely short attention span to a nine-year-old heroine with a 31-word first name, Stanton engineers a last-second rescue, a wedding and even (despite several strenuous denials) a slightly hidden "Secret Bonus Story." Illustrated on nearly every page with comical vignettes and spot art, the tale makes a serious assault on the silly bone. (Fantasy. 9-11)

TV Hits said of Mr Gum and the Goblins, 'This is a really funny read with tons of made-up fantastic words and disgusting characters to gross you out. It's easy to read and the illustrations are really mad but very cool.'