Tom Gates: Five Star Stories (the brand new book in the multi-million bestselling series!)

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There has also been a stage production, Tom Gates Live, which has travelled throughout the UK. There are currently no new dates planned.

Liz Pichon is one of the UK’s most-loved, bestselling children’s authors and she is most popular for her Tom Gates books. Pichon’s Tom Gates series has been hugely popular with kids and their parents for its educational, engaging and funny content. Translated into 47 languages, the Tom Gates books have sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and won several Children’s literary awards in the younger fiction category. An-almost 10-year-old, Tom is the younger of the two children of Frank and Rita Gates, and is the younger brother to Delia Gates. He attends Oakfield Primary School where he attends Mr. Fullerman's Class 5F, under headmaster Mr Keen. Children in his class include Marcus Meldrew (who sits next to and consistently annoys Tom in class), and Amy Porter (who also sits next to Tom, but whom Tom hopes to impress). Also, in his year at school is his best friend Derek Fingle, who also lives next door to him. Tom has a second neighbour, June Jones, that annoys Tom and dislikes his band. Ten years after the first was published, the 19th Tom Gates book, Random Acts of Fun – “Hanging out with a kid who likes to eat sugar from a bowl. (NOT fun.) Watching squirrels steal stuff from the garden. (Who knew that would be SO much FUN?)” – is just out, and Pichon has no plans on calling a halt any time soon. My grandson loved it . Had previously bought all the Tom Gates books for my 7 year old grandson and from being a reluctant reader he absolutely loved them., so when “Random Acts of Fun” came out it was a no-brainer. He absolutely loves this one as well.” PerryE

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Tom Gates by Liz Pichon: Books 1-15 Collection Set for children aged 7 and up is a comprehensive collection set of the first 15 Tony Gates titles that your child is going to love and learn from. Tom’s everyday trials and tribulations at home and school will keep your child engaged and immerse your young reader in a relatable world, irrespective of where they live. She started out with other people’s, but then had a go at writing her own picture books. Square-Eyed Pat, about a telly addict dog, was published in 2003, followed by My Big Brother Boris, in which Little Croc and his brother live in a swamp. “It doesn’t seem quite so jolly now,” Pichon says of the title, but it won her the Smarties prize, and got her properly thinking about the kind of book she would have loved to read herself as a child. Despite the sales, and the readers around the world – Tom Gates has been translated into 45 languages – that “panic” is always still there. “I just assume it’s always going to end, and so every book, I’m really trying hard to put new things in it. If I was a Tom Gates fan, what would I expect? What else can I put in the book that I think kids would really like?” Songs included:Nice Cup of Teaby Tea Cup Tony and The Saucers;What You Gonna Do?by Plastic Cup;Shout it Outby Dude3;Delia’s A Weirdoby DogZombies;The Cat Songby DogZombies;The School Dinner Blues (Chips Song)by DogZombies.

In the eleven years since The Brilliant World of Tom Gates was first published— the Tom Gates books have entertained and inspired children to get creative through various fun activities like reading, drawing, doodling, writing, performing and even making music. Written in diary form full of Tom's doodles and pictures and his amazing sense of humour The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, was the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize! Each of the 20 plus books in the series (all really funny!) are a rich mix of stories, music, mischief and a whole lot of drawing.I loved funny books, and I was being offered funny books to illustrate, but I thought if I wanted to illustrate one I’d better write it myself,” she says. “I didn’t actually get to write my own stories until I was in my mid-40s.” Tom Gates' humour comes to play as he refers to his grandparents—Frank’s parents; Granny Mavis and Granddad Bob as "The Fossils", while he calls Rita's parents "The Wrinklies". Tom and Derek are in a band called Dog Zombies, with Tom on the guitar, Derek on keyboards, and another classmate Norman Watson on drums. I have a soft spot for this series, so love it when a new book comes out. This one was hilarious. Kids eating bowls full of sugar, caramel doughnuts, cool grandparents and a whole heap of illustrations to boot!” Rania T. This quirky, funny, highly-illustrated, fiction series follows life’s ups and downs of chaotic but loveable Tom, Delia, his old sister, his parents and of course his best friend Derek and his arch enemy, Marcus. Written by award-winning author and illustrator Liz Pichon, Tom is a master of excuses (especially when it comes to homework), creative storyteller and doodler and middle-school comedian extraordinaire.

She creates a story map for each book, noting down small events that will take place during her narrative – Derek gets a dog; homework excuse; squirrel wars – and fleshes them out into funny stories. And they are genuinely funny – I’ve watched my eight-year-old chortling away to herself at them on many an occasion, and even my 11-year-old hasn’t quite outgrown them yet, stealing them away from her little sister when she’s in the mood. In terms of an age recommendation, I think these are great books for ages 8+ and if you want to start at the beginning, the first Tom Gates book is The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, which was first published in 2011. It was only when she and her husband were investigating issues for their son as a child – he’s now 30 – that she realised about her own dyslexia. “We discovered that he had various different things like hearing problems, speech problems, and as we were going through the process with him, they always talked to the parents, and everything they were saying was like, well, you’re probably dyslexic. So I’ve never officially been diagnosed, but my family have always thought it.”