I Call Him Mr Flubbergump is a story written and illustrated by new local author and illustrator Anthony Rea here on the Isle of Man. The book is due to be stocked in Waterstones in Douglas, where it will be officially launched and then possibly further a field.
The first in, hopefully a series of books with the Mr Flubbergump character, tells the story of, who Mr Flubbergump is, and what he gets up to. An imaginary character who is bundles of fun and has his first adventure in ‘I Call Him Mr Flubbergump’ and is aimed at 0 to 5 year olds.
Mr Flubbergump and the story ‘I Call Him Mr Flubbergump’ arose from, writing a story I thought would appeal to my then, 3 year old nephew. It had to be short, it had to be bright, it had to be easy to follow and remember but above all it had to be fun. I gave myself 20 lines to write a story and decided it should rhyme, so that when read repeatedly, a child would know when the rhyming words were coming and associate the written word with that sound and its meaning with the picture. Having come up with the story I used my animation and illustration background to come up with the character, Mr Flubbergump and illustrate the book itself. At this point I decided to find out how appealing it really was by making a facebook page for Mr Flubbergump and adding some of the illustrations I had done. It received a great response and this was the final piece of inspiration I needed to knuckle down and turn a short story and a few initial pages of illustrations into a working book that I would try to sell to the public.
Making regular updates on the Mr Flubbergump facebook page I set about turning my story into a working book. Having had the initial copy approved by my nephew (he’s a good critic) I had 30 copies printed and offered those who had liked the Facebook page, their chance to own a first edition. Remarkably I had sold all thirty copies in 20 minutes (and almost killed my computer keyboard with trying to reply to everyone who had been lucky enough to bag a copy). Overwhelmed I sat back to take breath when responses started to role in from people who had missed out. These responses grew and grew until a further 45 members of the page had asked if there were any chance of more copies? Not one to disappoint I had a further 45 copies printed and had them delivered for Christmas, hopefully making for lots of happy children and even more happy book giving aunties, uncles, mums, dads, brothers, sisters….etc.
Studies have shown that pupils who are exposed to reading before preschool are more likely to do well in all facets of formal education. A primary benefit of reading to toddlers and preschoolers is a higher aptitude for learning.
Introducing reading to children at an early age helps them to view books as a ‘fun thing’ to do rather than a chore and encourages them to then choose to continue to read books into their later lfe.
A signing of ‘I Call Him Mr Flubbergump’, will be taking place in Waterstones in March of this year, an exact date is yet to be confirmed, please like the Mr Flubbergump Facebook page if you would like to keep up with updates or keep a look out in Waterstones for info.
Please drop along to Waterstones in March and pick up a signed copy of ‘I Call him Mr Flubbergump,’ for ?3.99 you can find details on the Mr Flubbergump Facebook page or contact me direct on wellard@manx.net.
Oh and my nephew loves it (phew).
Photo - Cover of ‘I Call Him Mr Flubbergump.’
