Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
She said: “The thrill of seeing a book published never stops – even after 20 Tom Gates books! I hope children enjoy reading Tom Gates: Happy to Help (Eventually) as much as I did writing and illustrating it. At the age of 7, my son was still being given very simple books by his teacher. However, he was able to read the longer Tom Gates books with more confidence. 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. Tom grows up in each book and the vocabulary develops. Tom Gates author Liz Pichon has added to the collection since my daughter stopped reading them. You can read them as stand-alone books too!
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.”Pichon’s Tom Gates series is published by Scholastic and includes titles such as Tom Gates: Biscuits, Bands and Very Big Plans and Tom Gates: The Brilliant World of Tom Gates. The latest book in the series, Tom Gates: Happy to Help (Eventually) will be published on 13th October 2022.
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.
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?” Liz Pichontrained as a graphic designer and has illustrated several picture books. She based a lot of the stories in the Tom Gates books on funny things that happened to her at school.
There are also 4 additional Tom Gates themed books by Liz Pichon, including a drawing book to be released in March 2022.
It was an honour to design 2022’s iconic BBC Children in Need T-shirt and I want children to add their own doodles to it too. I know my talented creative readers are going to enjoy ‘The Brilliant World of Tom Gates’ Halloween TV special that I co-wrote, and sing along to the spooky song my music producer husband Mark and I wrote. It’s a super busy time and I’m loving every minute.” Most of the story revolves around things that happen at school. There are teachers he likes and doesn’t like, and children who he has difficult relationships with as well as his mates. The books are filled with jokes and really dynamic illustrations. My son will laugh out loud. A Tom Gates costume is a super easy dress up for World Book Day at school (great for us lazier mums!) Liz Pichon has recently released a new book, Shoe Wars. The footastic book features lots of shoe puns! It was released in October 2020.
Great Deal 
New Comment