With more than half a million books sold across the UK, the Mr. Gum books from Egmont Press are getting the TV treatment, as Nickelodeon US will be producing a pilot episode based on the publishing property, written by Andy Stanton and illustrated by David Tazzyman.

Stanton was on board to write the pilot with Andy Borbrow (Malcolm in the Middle), produced in the US by Damon Ross (Nacho Libre) and overseen by Nickelodeon VP of development Birkner Rawlings.

The Mr. Gum books have been published in more than 20 languages, with the sixth title in the series What’s For Dinner, Mr Gum to be published this November. The stories follow the titular character, a miserable old man who hates pretty much everything and busies himself with evil tasks that the lovely heroine Polly and her friends attempt to thwart. Translation rights for the Mr Gum series have been sold in 24 languages.