What do you think?
Rate this book
Tom Gates #1
The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
Tom Gates is the master of excuses for late dog attacks; spilt water; and, lightning. Tom's exercise book is full of his doodles, cartoons and thoughts, as well as comments from his long-suffering teacher, Mr Fullerton. After gaining five merits for his "Camping Sucks" holiday story, Tom's work starts to go downhill - which is a pity, as he's desperate to impress Amy Porter, who sits next to him...
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2014
About the author
Liz Pichon
251 books488 followersL. Pichon says that when she was little, she loved to draw, and her mom said she was very good at making a mess (this is still true today). She kept drawing, went to art school, became a designer and art director at Jive Records, and began to publish children’s books. After its publication in the U.K., The Brilliant World of Tom Gates won several prestigious awards, including the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, and the Blue Peter Book Award. L. Pichon lives in Brighton, England, with her family.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 685 reviews
November 14, 2012
Jake's Review: A really funny book that is a lot like Diary of a Wimpy Kid except for the fact that Tom is a lot cooler of a kid. The beginning of the book was lame but it got a lot better after about 20 pages. It is a really easy book to read so kids like Brian who don't like to read will actually like to read a book. The pictures make it fun to look at too. I didn't understand some of the words, but after mom showed me the glossary at the end, I could figure them out. I really think it would be a better idea for the glossary to be at the beginning though. I hope there are going to be more books in this series since I have already read all The Wimpy Kid books. Could have been longer too.
Jake's Rating: 9.5/10
Mom's Review: Perfect book for the reluctant reader and also for fans of The Diary of A Wimpy Kids, Dork Diaries and The Loser List. The story is delightful and the artwork just adds to its charm. This is one that both middle school boys AND girls will enjoy. Tom is a character that everyone can relate to and the language and situations are very realistic. Really enjoyed the relationship between Tom and his sister Delia & its one that anyone with a sibling can relate to. I will definitely be recommending this one to any of my customers with kids who really don't like to read. Hope to see more from this author. Enjoyed the glossary at the end which gives the reader explanations into the English terms (Published 2011 in the UK)
Mom's Rating: 9/10
We received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
Jake's Rating: 9.5/10
Mom's Review: Perfect book for the reluctant reader and also for fans of The Diary of A Wimpy Kids, Dork Diaries and The Loser List. The story is delightful and the artwork just adds to its charm. This is one that both middle school boys AND girls will enjoy. Tom is a character that everyone can relate to and the language and situations are very realistic. Really enjoyed the relationship between Tom and his sister Delia & its one that anyone with a sibling can relate to. I will definitely be recommending this one to any of my customers with kids who really don't like to read. Hope to see more from this author. Enjoyed the glossary at the end which gives the reader explanations into the English terms (Published 2011 in the UK)
Mom's Rating: 9/10
We received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review
August 19, 2017
O carte care nu a intrecut asteptarile mele, insa m-a scos din reading slump asa ca voi incerca si urmatorul volum, deci mai ofer o sansa seriei, care cred ca mi-ar fi placut MULT mai mult daca as fi citit-o pe la 9-10 ani.
November 14, 2021
کتاب بانمکی بود، اما محتوای مفیدی نداشت!
October 19, 2015
Cute start to a series about Tom Gates, a fifth year student who loves to draw, has a crush on one of his classmates, and is perpetually late to school (and always blames his older sister, Delia, for his tardiness).
Someone had said in an Amazon review that this was the British version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I beg to differ. I tried a few of the Wimpy Kid books, and didn't care for them at all. OK, there are similarities here: two boys of about the same age, boys who have siblings who torment them in some way (Greg's brother goes for the physical, while Delia torments Tom with her mere existence), and yes, there are pictures and doodles in each series that look as if they were drawn by a young boy. But those similarities are just that - superficial similarities. When you dig deeper, you see the love in Tom's family. Tom's teacher, Mr. Fullerman, turns out to be a pretty cool dude.
The biggest difference?
Tom Gates isn't a jerk.
Yep, I said it. I stopped after reading the second Wimpy Kid book because I thought Greg Heffley was one of the meanest, nastiest kids I'd ever read about. He's cruel to his best friend, not to mention his family (personally, I thought he tormented his brother rather than the other way around). I just could not like Greg, and had a hard time figuring out why the kids love that series so much.
I'm hoping that I can steer some of my young library patrons to this series. I thought the writing was just as good as Wimpy Kid, and I think the overall story is much better. As I said, I also don't see the stereotypes in this first book like I did in Wimpy Kid. Only time will tell if Tom stays the course, or if he walks down the Wimpy Kid road to cruelty.
PS - while British, it's not so heavily written that way that kids won't figure it out. Plus there's a nice glossary in the back that explains a few of the words.
Someone had said in an Amazon review that this was the British version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I beg to differ. I tried a few of the Wimpy Kid books, and didn't care for them at all. OK, there are similarities here: two boys of about the same age, boys who have siblings who torment them in some way (Greg's brother goes for the physical, while Delia torments Tom with her mere existence), and yes, there are pictures and doodles in each series that look as if they were drawn by a young boy. But those similarities are just that - superficial similarities. When you dig deeper, you see the love in Tom's family. Tom's teacher, Mr. Fullerman, turns out to be a pretty cool dude.
The biggest difference?
Tom Gates isn't a jerk.
Yep, I said it. I stopped after reading the second Wimpy Kid book because I thought Greg Heffley was one of the meanest, nastiest kids I'd ever read about. He's cruel to his best friend, not to mention his family (personally, I thought he tormented his brother rather than the other way around). I just could not like Greg, and had a hard time figuring out why the kids love that series so much.
I'm hoping that I can steer some of my young library patrons to this series. I thought the writing was just as good as Wimpy Kid, and I think the overall story is much better. As I said, I also don't see the stereotypes in this first book like I did in Wimpy Kid. Only time will tell if Tom stays the course, or if he walks down the Wimpy Kid road to cruelty.
PS - while British, it's not so heavily written that way that kids won't figure it out. Plus there's a nice glossary in the back that explains a few of the words.
January 8, 2015
Meet Tom Gates. He's an ordinary 10 year old who has deep passion in Art, Music, Excuses, annoying sisters (such as Delia) and Amy Porter(his crush). He dislikes Marcus Maldrew, Delia, Teachers and School. But the thing is, in order to impress Amy Porter and get those Dude3 (his favorite band) concert tickets, he has to be on a good behavior and at the same time keep his school profile chill. His Band, the Dog Zombies, play their first act and it turns out... well I don't want to spoil it. Follow Tom as he goes through 5th grade, whether he makes it through or not, and towards the final step to middle school. Find out in The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon, a book of Comedy, Courage and Art.
April 16, 2017
Nisam ljubiteljica Gregovog dnevnika, ali Timija i Toma definitivno. S tim da je Tom ja :)
Na trenutke sam se bas glasno nasmijala, premda sam vise puta iscitavala dijelove za radionice i klubove i sad jos jednom prosla cijeli tekst. Popratne ilustracije su famozne, vjerojatno najljepse od svih knjzuljaka ovakvog tipa! Likovi su genijalni, odusevljava me njihova zaigranost, prof. Fullerman i nacin na koji je *pravi igrac* da se posluzim Fulghamovim terminom, a i svaki izgovor u prici je slican mojim izgovorima u najranijim skolskim danima ;)
Na trenutke sam se bas glasno nasmijala, premda sam vise puta iscitavala dijelove za radionice i klubove i sad jos jednom prosla cijeli tekst. Popratne ilustracije su famozne, vjerojatno najljepse od svih knjzuljaka ovakvog tipa! Likovi su genijalni, odusevljava me njihova zaigranost, prof. Fullerman i nacin na koji je *pravi igrac* da se posluzim Fulghamovim terminom, a i svaki izgovor u prici je slican mojim izgovorima u najranijim skolskim danima ;)
March 4, 2020
امروز به شدت حوصلم سر رفته بود. واسه همین به فربد گفتم یکی از کتاباش که خیلی دوسش داره و برام بیاره که بخونم. جدا از اینکه خیلی ذوق کرد و همین خودش کلی می ارزید ولی کتابشم باحال بود.
طنز خنده داری داشت که واسه نوجوون ها میتونه جالب باشه و میتونن خیلی باهاش همزاد پنداری کنن. مخصوصا اونایی که خواهر بزرگ تر دارن=)
طنز خنده داری داشت که واسه نوجوون ها میتونه جالب باشه و میتونن خیلی باهاش همزاد پنداری کنن. مخصوصا اونایی که خواهر بزرگ تر دارن=)
August 26, 2014
I loved it!! I have read the book over and over again. It never gets old! I would defiantly recomend it.
January 31, 2012
This was another book on the list for 'Book Day' at work, and another one that I wasn't looking forward to. Last year I had to read 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' and I really didn't like it. I can see the appeal for children - it's quick and easy to read, but to me there was no substance, I was afraid this book would follow the trend.
Wow, was I wrong. Tom Gates is instantly likeable, he has a great sense of humour, his drawings make me smile and the book just grabs your attention.
There is a storyline throughout, it follows Tom through a term at school, he is desperate to impress a girl, he wants to see his favourite band 'Dudes 3' live and he wants to make his band "Dog Zombies" really good. Follow his notes as he humiliates his teachers, winds up his sister, gets in and out of trouble and generally has a bot of mischief.
Although always seeming to be in trouble, Tom does it the nicest way, he always seems so innocent and I really liked him as a character.
His sister Delia is the main focus of his pranks, but I could see so much of me and my brother in their relationship that it just made me laugh.
Altogether a fantastic book. If your children like Wimpy Kid then they will love this. And if they don't love Wimpy Kid, well still give them this I'm sure they'll laugh just like I did. The new generation of Diary/notebook writing has arrived.
Wow, was I wrong. Tom Gates is instantly likeable, he has a great sense of humour, his drawings make me smile and the book just grabs your attention.
There is a storyline throughout, it follows Tom through a term at school, he is desperate to impress a girl, he wants to see his favourite band 'Dudes 3' live and he wants to make his band "Dog Zombies" really good. Follow his notes as he humiliates his teachers, winds up his sister, gets in and out of trouble and generally has a bot of mischief.
Although always seeming to be in trouble, Tom does it the nicest way, he always seems so innocent and I really liked him as a character.
His sister Delia is the main focus of his pranks, but I could see so much of me and my brother in their relationship that it just made me laugh.
Altogether a fantastic book. If your children like Wimpy Kid then they will love this. And if they don't love Wimpy Kid, well still give them this I'm sure they'll laugh just like I did. The new generation of Diary/notebook writing has arrived.
Read
July 10, 2020Very good
I suggest children to read moonlight night to authoring Nooshin Farzin Fard
کتاب شب مهتابی به نویسندگی نوشین فرزین فرد
در سه اپلیکیشن کتاب سبز و کتابراه به صورت الکترونیکی و در اپلیکیشن ایران صدا به صورت صوتی موجود می باشد
I suggest children to read moonlight night to authoring Nooshin Farzin Fard
کتاب شب مهتابی به نویسندگی نوشین فرزین فرد
در سه اپلیکیشن کتاب سبز و کتابراه به صورت الکترونیکی و در اپلیکیشن ایران صدا به صورت صوتی موجود می باشد
Read
December 26, 2015Amazing pictures
December 29, 2019
Çok komik bir kitaptı.Komedi sevenlere öneriyorum.
July 7, 2017
Es ist auf jeden Fall unterhaltsam, aber Gregs Tagebücher fand ich besser, nicht so langweilig. Auch die Zeichnungen bei Tom Gates sind nicht besonders, als wären sie aus dem Zeichenlernbuch "Punkt Punkt Komma Strich" abgemalt. Zwischendurch ist es mal was anderes und man hat es auch schnell durchgelesen.
June 13, 2021
Дуже гарна книга) реготав і згадував пригоди зі своєї школи.. і заспівчував вчителям, бо витримати навіть мій клас було дуже важко у пубертатному віці)
April 15, 2021
Not me wasting an hour of my life reading Tom gates just because my cousin happened to buy it and not at all because it seemed cool
For the record, I regret reading this *smiling face with tear*
I have probably read this book before some years before (no idea) but I read it anyway and it's 3 stars! (To be fair I rate all the kiddy books I read 3 stars)
Even though ultimately it was useless, some parts were funny! Tom Gates was acting too young for his age, I mean I have a brother who's about the same age and he's so not like this. To all those who're saying every child is different and unique, don't you think that "They put my arm in a bandage (I was very brave)" is too much even for a 10 year old? 🤷
I remember reading one random book from the series and wishing I could doodle as well as Tom 😂(it was years ago!)
Here's a random doodle for you to enjoy (:
And another one...
This just made me remember- isn't this bullying? Shame on you, Tom. Hence another star less from my rating
Which leads to a grand total of
✓✓ 2 stars
FHEHDVSJSVSH BYEE
For the record, I regret reading this *smiling face with tear*
I have probably read this book before some years before (no idea) but I read it anyway and it's 3 stars! (To be fair I rate all the kiddy books I read 3 stars)
Even though ultimately it was useless, some parts were funny! Tom Gates was acting too young for his age, I mean I have a brother who's about the same age and he's so not like this. To all those who're saying every child is different and unique, don't you think that "They put my arm in a bandage (I was very brave)" is too much even for a 10 year old? 🤷
I remember reading one random book from the series and wishing I could doodle as well as Tom 😂(it was years ago!)
Here's a random doodle for you to enjoy (:
And another one...
This just made me remember- isn't this bullying? Shame on you, Tom. Hence another star less from my rating
Which leads to a grand total of
✓✓ 2 stars
FHEHDVSJSVSH BYEE
February 17, 2015
If you are a dairy of a wimpy kid fan this is for you! Great book filled with comedy, courage and art and a very easy quick read. Great for any of those who are young readers and any grown up!! I think I would give this book a 4/5!
July 30, 2020
Very cute and funny, looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
February 5, 2022
I really liked this book and it was very funny but some of the wording was quite hard to read. But I did love it 😻.
April 2, 2017
I thought this book was hilarious
October 14, 2017
These were so popular in my school library a couple years ago it was a race to this ‘pic’ section after the summer holidays. Now i want to read the ones the school didn’t have
September 21, 2021
This book is just amazing. If you want to read any humorous story then Tom Gates is the best. I thank Liz Picon for thinking (and doodling) such a nice book.
February 14, 2020
Si tens ganes de riure i passar una bona estona... aquest és el llibre adequat.
En Tom t'explica la seva vida en primera persona i tota la novel·la està escrita amb un gran sentit de l'humor. El que li passa al protagonista no li passa a ningú més.
Rafel Perelló (5è primària)
En Tom t'explica la seva vida en primera persona i tota la novel·la està escrita amb un gran sentit de l'humor. El que li passa al protagonista no li passa a ningú més.
Rafel Perelló (5è primària)
October 31, 2022
He’s a rascal but my boys loved listening. The Delia song is an earworm!
I've read this before. Before children I believe. It's different when you're a parent and you are reading/listening with your own offspring. You realise that this sort of Horrid Henry-type character is actually NOT horrifyingly awful and a bad influence.
He's just a cheeky and rather normal boy, and entertaining.
I had a 5- and 11-year old giggling along to this in the car over the course of a few school runs. And we've moved straight to book 2 now as well.
Ron Weasley (my youngest loved this!) read the book to us, great voice for Tom, young enough sounding and plenty of enthusiasm for the role.
Tom reads us his journals about everyday life, his family (older sister and how he makes her life miserable), his school (how he tries to get out of homework), his band and love for his favourite bands (Dog Zombies and Dude Three - cool names).
He's no Hermione Granger. Tom will leave his homework to the last minute, hide his sister's stuff just to be a pain, even fake letters to get out of lessons he dislikes. Normal kid if a little over-the-top (some very funny letters from his 'parents' though).
My boys were rapt really. A few comments about his meanness towards his older sister (phew!), but the Delia song was enjoyed by all (yes me too) and is not being sung regularly at random intervals at home. Oops. Good thing I have two boys.
I enjoyed this much more with members of the appropriate audience, they are lovely and short as well for a listen, though I know we missed lots of illustrations/diagrams/visual jokes by audio-reading. Some good sound effects though and Grint does the voices very well.
Onto book 2. Yay.
I've read this before. Before children I believe. It's different when you're a parent and you are reading/listening with your own offspring. You realise that this sort of Horrid Henry-type character is actually NOT horrifyingly awful and a bad influence.
He's just a cheeky and rather normal boy, and entertaining.
I had a 5- and 11-year old giggling along to this in the car over the course of a few school runs. And we've moved straight to book 2 now as well.
Ron Weasley (my youngest loved this!) read the book to us, great voice for Tom, young enough sounding and plenty of enthusiasm for the role.
Tom reads us his journals about everyday life, his family (older sister and how he makes her life miserable), his school (how he tries to get out of homework), his band and love for his favourite bands (Dog Zombies and Dude Three - cool names).
He's no Hermione Granger. Tom will leave his homework to the last minute, hide his sister's stuff just to be a pain, even fake letters to get out of lessons he dislikes. Normal kid if a little over-the-top (some very funny letters from his 'parents' though).
My boys were rapt really. A few comments about his meanness towards his older sister (phew!), but the Delia song was enjoyed by all (yes me too) and is not being sung regularly at random intervals at home. Oops. Good thing I have two boys.
I enjoyed this much more with members of the appropriate audience, they are lovely and short as well for a listen, though I know we missed lots of illustrations/diagrams/visual jokes by audio-reading. Some good sound effects though and Grint does the voices very well.
Onto book 2. Yay.
August 5, 2016
I really enjoyed this book.I laughed a lot and despite the fact that the main character was a fifth grader, I could really understand him.I felt so connected and I really loved it when I felt that old feeling of worrying over childish stuff.
I found a lot of similarities between this book and "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" series.It's obvious that they belong to the same genre and I think anyone who loves that series would love this series too ,but I also think that while Tom is younger than Greg ,the story of this book is more mature and realistic than Jeff Kinney's masterpiece.(I still like that series,I just like this series more.)
I admit it,one of the best parts of this book was when Tom and Derek were "fanboying" over their favorite boyband ,cause I am a really really huge fan of One Direction and I spend a great amount of my time fangirling over them with my best friend and this was THE FIRST BOOK that I read that went into details about teenagers being a fan of the music band/singer ,I really appreciate it.
I guess it's enough to say that I couldn't stop myself from putting this book in my favorites shelf.
I found a lot of similarities between this book and "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" series.It's obvious that they belong to the same genre and I think anyone who loves that series would love this series too ,but I also think that while Tom is younger than Greg ,the story of this book is more mature and realistic than Jeff Kinney's masterpiece.(I still like that series,I just like this series more.)
I admit it,one of the best parts of this book was when Tom and Derek were "fanboying" over their favorite boyband ,cause I am a really really huge fan of One Direction and I spend a great amount of my time fangirling over them with my best friend and this was THE FIRST BOOK that I read that went into details about teenagers being a fan of the music band/singer ,I really appreciate it.
I guess it's enough to say that I couldn't stop myself from putting this book in my favorites shelf.
April 5, 2015
Pidin enemmän kuin Timi Möhläristä ja Nipasta mutta miksi näissä kirjoissa on niin paljon sivuja. Tämäkin menisi heikolle lukijalle vielä paremmin jos yhdestä kirjasta olisi vaikka tehty kaksi. Koska ei nämä himolukijoiden juttu ole.
Read
January 1, 2017Slatko i blesavo štivo za klince.
April 9, 2018
Needed something funny and light to read. This book made me laugh and brought back memories from that magical time called childhood.
December 27, 2019
Good 👍book.
November 25, 2020
This kid's an asshole.
December 4, 2021
Read it and go HA HA!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 685 reviews