He's grumpy. He excels at being grumpy, and all he wants to do all day is be in a constant grump about pretty much everything.
So when a witch politely asks this grumpy bearded grumbler to stop fishing in her pond, you can guess what his response is.
A firm "NO!"
In fact parents at this point will probably cock a wry eyebrow, particularly if their kids are like our daughter at the moment, and automatically say "No" as their default answer to everything.
Fred brilliantly captures the comeuppance of this curmudgeonly fellah with a truly satisfying (and quite brilliantly 'dark') pay-off at the end, in a story that is filled with gigglish humour from start to finish.
Sum this book up in a sentence: A brilliant cautionary tale for would-be sourpusses, that grumpy ways and saying "NO!" can backfire on you quite spectacularly!
"Gnome" by Fred Blunt is out now, published by Andersen Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).