Arts
A story for little cousins and then there was Mr. Gum!
Four chapters into his first book, Andy Stanton realised that his children’s story lacked a rather important character – an actual child. He immediately introduced a little girl, Polly, who would go on to become one of his most beloved protagonists.
Andy Stanton: Writing for children comes naturally. Pic by M.D. Nissanka
“It makes me laugh still,” he tells us “that everything about that first book is completely wrong in the right way.”
There were many things about ‘You’re a Bad Man Mr. Gum’ that might have been described as pretty unusual when it was first published in the UK.
Andy was one of the first children’s authors to challenge the mainstream narrative of that time – his books are highly visual, with only a few lines on each page, beautifully rendered illustrations and a super interactive format.
His characters are delightfully strange and have the most intriguing turn of phrase: “the truth is a lemon meringue!” declares one character while Mr. Gum himself graciously says “well thank you, me old gobbler.”
Mr. Gum was immediately successful when it was published in 2006. “At the time I didn’t realize that it was very unusual to be so successful with your first book,” says the author.
“But it feels good to have contributed to changing how children’s books were presented all this time.”
In person, Andy is charming and self-deprecating and not nearly as hyperactive as he has been described.
The first time we meet is midway during the Galle Literary Festival and he is all apologies-the interview that had been scheduled for earlier in the day has had to be cancelled because Andy got lost inside the Galle Fort (this we can easily believe). The second time, he arrives ten minutes early to be on the safe side.
“I love to read, it’s one of life’s pleasures,” he explains once we have settled under the shade of a tree at the Galle Fort Hotel’s courtyard.
Andy grew up in England reading the work of authors like Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl-and anything else he could get his hands on.
A short stint at Oxford (expelled because of dissension with regards to what he considered to be a narrow approach to literature) was followed by many years with the NHS (National Health Service), during which he played around with the idea of writing.
On Christmas Eve 2002, Andy resolved to do it once and for all; he sat down at a table and in eight hours wrote an entire story to read to his little cousins the next day-this would be published in 2006 as ‘You’re a Bad Man Mr. Gum’.
The successes that followed the book’s publication are many. These are now nine books in the Mr. Gum series and they have been awarded many times-accolades such as the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize, two Blue Peter Book Awards and a Red House Children’s Book Award are among these.
In 2012, they were narrated by Kate Winslet for audio. The books have also been translated into over 20 languages.
None of these matter to Andy, of course, as much as the delighted response he often receives from young readers. “People often overlook how sophisticated children can be,” he says. “They see life in a simple, but profound way. Writing for children has always come naturally to me.”
What does he read, personally? Anything that interests him-“I’m a promiscuous reader,” he laughs.
“I admire Stephen King greatly and I also read Dostoyevsky (isn’t it terrible that I have to justify my reading though?)” People tend to assume that children’s writers are “a bit simple-minded”, he grins, but Andy doesn’t particularly mind.
“I can read highbrow, lowbrow, literary, trashy-as long as I enjoy it, I’ll read it (…) It’s nice being a children’s author. I like looking like a punk, but I can also talk about books till the cows come home.”
At GLF, Andy conducted several workshops and sessions for the children’s programme. Find his work on www.mrgum.co.uk