Mr. Bump

Mr. Men #6

by Roger Hargreaves

Get ready for the second invasion of Little Miss and Little Mr. Men ! That's right - those zany, pint-sized characters are back. Easy enough for young readers and witty enough for adults!Mr. Bump stumbles upon the perfect job!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Humor, Classics, Comics, Young Adult

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 1971

About the author

Roger Hargreaves was a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He created the Mr. Men series, Little Miss series and Timbuctoo series, intended for young readers. The simple and humorous stories, with bold, brightly coloured illustrations, have sales of more than 85 million copies worldwide in 20 languages.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the iconic illustrations alongside the simple but fun stories that have given the Mr. Men such long lasting appeal, that's certainly the case with Mr. Bump.

Whilst the story of an accident prone character who finally settled on a job best suited to him, it's the imagine of the bandaged blue fella that makes him one of the more memorable books in the series.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Bump is accident prone. He has so much in common with my nephew. The boy is a walking accident. He is not present and does not pay attention to his surroundings, just like Mr. Bump. So, I have started calling him Mr. Bump.

The nephew loves these books. This was a fun little book and his first ones were just great. This book is older than me and still around and entertaining people so I have hope for myself.

Cheers

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Mr Bump... nothing more needs saying.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Bump was hands down my absolute favourite Mr. Man when I was a kid, probably due to the fact I was a very clumsy child (who has now grown into a very clumsy adult, something that hasn't been helped by my deciding to go blind as well).

Re-reading this as a child of forty five, I still had a blast. Poor Mr. Bump... at least he eventually managed to find gainful employment, even if it is seasonal work. Of course, with the wizard changing the Earth's axis in the last book, who knows what the seasons are like now in Mr. Man land?

My next book: Death at Victoria Dock

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finding One's Calling
1 July 2017

It has been a little while since I have read a Mr Men book so I decided that it would be time to rectify that situation. Well, since they are such short books getting time to read them isn’t a problem, it more has to do with getting time to write a review on them afterwards. Also, I’m not too keen on flooding people’s Goodreads feed with reviews of Mr Men books (though it isn’t as if there is an unlimited number of them), so I’ve decided to try and space them out a bit, or I happen to be somewhere that isn’t my study so I can write a review on a book that doesn’t take too long to read (I just hope I remember to take some with me the next time I go traveling).

Mr Bump is a little clumsy. Well, probably not clumsy in the sense that he keeps on dropping things but rather that his co-ordination is a little off – he keeps on bumping into things, tripping up, and causing things to smash. For instance, when he tries to fix something on his roof (which from the getgo sounds like an incredibly bad idea) he ends up breaking a bunch of windows (which means that he has then got to go around and look for the means of repairing them without actually breaking anything else).

As it turns out, the story is about how Mr Bump tries to find his place in society. The problem with being the way he is is that there are lots of jobs he can’t do. For instance he tries being a bus conductor but he falls off, the bus disappears, and all of the passengers get a free ride. So he does what any self-respecting person does in this situation – he goes on a holiday to find himself. Well, that doesn’t seem to work out, but he does end up with suitable job in the end, so everybody is happy.

I still don’t know how he ended up getting those windows repaired (or why he didn’t fall off the roof when he was repairing the chimney).

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

So simple, so much fun, such lovely illustrations - timeless.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6 year old niece says Mr. Bump hurts himself every day and it makes her feel sad. He's very kind though, as he was cheering Little Miss Hug up on the TV today.

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Mr men series by Roger Hargreaves. Was always a pleasure to read these books with my children.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever!!

[Rach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mr Bump is a two dimensional character who didn’t seem to learn his lesson. After reading this short story, I am struggling to understand the hype surrounding the protagonist. Where was the character arc? Is he a metaphor for that toxic aspect in everyone’s life that repeatedly hurts them, time and time again, until the pain is physically etched onto their flesh? Is it a cry of help from the author; everyone can see he is hurting but no one stops the abuse? Because that didn’t shine through at all, sorry. Mr Bump just bumps from one calamity to another, and I am not excited for the sequel “Mr Bump and the Knight,” though I do think some armour could help this poor guy out. Who was this story aimed at: four year olds or something? Obviously not, because it would not teach a good lesson to children. It is certainly not the deeply moving young adult novel it claimed to be.

[Amy.... · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is about mr bump and he bumps into eveyrthing.
its a good book cause it relates to alot of people.

[[ J o ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

The difference in how good these books are is kind of insane. This one was just, hmm, alright.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the Mr Men series in my opinion. Mr Bump was a huge hit with me, I was a clumsy kid and I felt his pain! My kids both loved this book too. Full of belly laughs - great fun!

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If there was something for Mr. Bump to bump into, he's bump into it all right."

Dyspraxic hero, Mr. Bump, can't help getting himself into accidents. I can't believe this charming children's book is not almost 40 years old, I really enjoyed the original illustrations where the author's pen marks are visible in his lovingly shaped creations.
I enjoyed the author's whimsical style. The world is brilliant, so rounded, cushioned, and absurd. For instance. "One day when he was quietly walking along the beach minding his own business he got his foot stuck in a bucket, and as he couldn't get it off he had to walk around with it on his foot for hours." I mean, how does he get unstuck? Does he just keep walking until his foot shrivels up from dehydration and the bucket falls off? Did he even try greasing it? As a child, I loved the unreasonableness of the Mister Men. They get up to antics even a toddler could see coming. As a Baby Stumbles myself (and a fan of the colour blue), Mr. Bump was one of my favourites. And still a cult figure today.
I will definitely be reading this one to my own children one day!

[Wayne Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite Mr. Man when i was a child - i even had a soft toy with removable bandages that i loved!

[Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cette série de livres pour enfants est un vrai régal 😄

[Godzilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another twisted Mr Men tale, innocent on the surface, but with a menacing subtext.

I think we all know someone like Mr Bump - an accident prone disaster waiting to happen. Sometimes their misfortunes can be amusing, as Mr Bump's ladder incident proves: my kids thought it was hilarious.

However the exploitation of minorities is not to be lauded or laughed at. Mr bump is hounded from job to job due to simple mistakes in most cases. A reasonable boss would cut him some slack and provide further on the job training. Would we find gang masters rounding up illegal immigrants to work at picking apples from Mr Farmer's orchard? I think not.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, Mr Men and Little Miss, how wonderful you are!

These books made up so much of my childhood. No matter what I would go ahead and pick one up. I worked my way through them all a couple of times. Each one has a wonderful story for the child to engage with, each character being fun to read.

Everyone has a bias for their favourite character, yet every book is delightful.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, the artwork is decent and whimsical, but the story itself is pants. Is Hargreaves trying to bore his target audience or right a self-help book or just encourage people to bruise apples during picking? The constant and often poor use of “for instance” throughout the as also horrifically annoying.

[Rob Towner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I read all of these as a kid. I'll be here all day folks

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm finding some of the punctuation a little annoying, but the stories are a lovely combination of wacky and encouraging.

[Baby Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Bump is lots of fun, and gets stumblied all of the time, just like a big silly goslie I know. ;)

It was lots of fun reading through Mr. Bump with Lance! <3

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a re-read.

[lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If there was something for Mr Bump to bump into, he’d bump into it all right.”

My love for Mr Bumps grows and grows :)) he’s iconic!
🩹🤕❤️‍🩹

[Kim Peach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable story, not my favourite out of the collection, but it isn't bad by any means.

Elijah's Verdict (6 weeks old)

He absolutely loved this book! Had zero interest in the pictures, but we got a big smile halfway through, and there were lots of babbling noises, he was very vocal throughout. However, apparently, he only likes it when Mr. Bump is hurting himself because when Mr. Bump found his dream job, Elijah started crying.

[Danielle LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s incredible that these Roger Hargreaves books take us two sittings. I don’t remember them being this long when I was little! But Mr. Bump is a sweet story about finding the right job for you and keeping an easy going attitude about it. Already nervous about Oscar acting this one out.

[Trumpet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book

[Lew-Can't-Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I’ve ever read , I really resinate with the character , 20 stars / 5

[Louis Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was constantly called Mr Bump because I got injured all the time. A very traumatic experience

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read aloud for kindergarteners. The illustrations tell the story equally well!