Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Michael Rosen meets Liz Pichon, creator of Tom Gates, to uncover how one notebook, a few doodles, and everyday moments turned into one of the best-loved children’s series of our time.
If your pupils love Tom Gates — or you want to help children write like Tom — this is a masterclass in creativity, voice and turning tiny ideas into something brilliant.
Michael Rosen sits down with writer-illustrator Liz Pichon, creator of the Tom Gates books, to explore how the character was invented, how doodles became storytelling, and how everyday mishaps — glasses breaking, camping disasters, snacks dropped on the tube — can spark stories children want to write.
Liz reveals that Tom Gates began life not as a novel, but as a picture book filled with scraps, fonts, notebooks and cut-out ideas. What became a bestselling series started with one exercise book, stick men, crossed-out attempts and a voice that slowly began to sound like Tom himself.
Together Michael and Liz discuss:
✨ How Tom Gates was invented from doodles
✨ Why writing in first person unlocked Tom’s voice
✨ Turning tiny moments into story gold
✨ How drawings + fonts can tell story, not just decorate it
✨ Why mistakes aren’t bad — they’re material
✨ How children can start writing right now
Liz shares early notebooks, messy sketches and the real first draft of The Brilliant World of Tom Gates. We discover how fonts fall down the page, how a joke about camping became “Camping Sucks”, and how ideas don’t start as stories — they start as scraps.
Writers watching — children or adults — learn how to write the Tom Gates way:
📌 Start with small bits — one moment, one joke, one mishap
📌 Put each idea in a box or bubble
📌 Link ideas with arrows — that becomes your SPOKEN storyline
📌 Doodle to show emotions, fear, sound + chaos
📌 Copy structure at first — voice grows by doing
Liz explains that nothing needs to be perfect. Pages may be messy. Drawings can wobble. The best work often starts with “anything at all”. If something happened today, it can live in a book. If not today — yesterday. If not yesterday — invention, stolen TV plots, overheard conversations or snacks dropped on a train.
Michael and Liz also explore humour, empathy, characters who fail, annoying classmates, gloomy teenagers, school plays, dogs who eat sausage rolls, and why Tom Gates succeeds because he doesn’t always succeed.
Teachers can use this video to:
📘 spark writing workshops
📚 encourage observational storytelling
✏ teach voice, doodle-narration, layout + visual writing
🎨 help reluctant writers take risks without fear
🧠 show how comics, fonts + pictures build story
This conversation is warm, generous, funny — and full of do-this-now inspiration for young writers who want to make something brilliant from nothing more than a notebook, a pen and today.
🔗 Useful links
🌐 Michael’s website – news, events & fun stuff: michaelrosen.co.uk
✏️ Discover Liz Pichon: lizpichon.com
#michaelrosen #LizPichon #tomgates #childrensbookseries
#creativewritingkids #creativewriting #creativewritingskills #creativewritings #creativewritingtips #KidsWhoWrite #DoodleStories #authorinterviews
#writingtipsandtricks #writingtips #illustrations #educationalvideos #schools #teachers
#youngwriters #bookshelf #kidsbookswelove #storytellingmagic
#TomGates
#WritingTips
#ChildrensBooks
#KidLit
#AuthorInterview
#KidsBooks
#SchoolLibrary
#TeacherResources
#Storytelling
#Inspiration
#HowToWrite
#BookTube
Michael Rosen meets Liz Pichon, creator of Tom Gates, to uncover how one notebook, a few doodles, and everyday moments turned into one of the best-loved children’s series of our time.
If your pupils love Tom Gates — or you want to help children write like Tom — this is a masterclass in creativity, voice and turning tiny ideas into something brilliant.
Michael Rosen sits down with writer-illustrator Liz Pichon, creator of the Tom Gates books, to explore how the character was invented, how doodles became storytelling, and how everyday mishaps — glasses breaking, camping disasters, snacks dropped on the tube — can spark stories children want to write.
Liz reveals that Tom Gates began life not as a novel, but as a picture book filled with scraps, fonts, notebooks and cut-out ideas. What became a bestselling series started with one exercise book, stick men, crossed-out attempts and a voice that slowly began to sound like Tom himself.
Together Michael and Liz discuss:
✨ How Tom Gates was invented from doodles
✨ Why writing in first person unlocked Tom’s voice
✨ Turning tiny moments into story gold
✨ How drawings + fonts can tell story, not just decorate it
✨ Why mistakes aren’t bad — they’re material
✨ How children can start writing right now
Liz shares early notebooks, messy sketches and the real first draft of The Brilliant World of Tom Gates. We discover how fonts fall down the page, how a joke about camping became “Camping Sucks”, and how ideas don’t start as stories — they start as scraps.
Writers watching — children or adults — learn how to write the Tom Gates way:
📌 Start with small bits — one moment, one joke, one mishap
📌 Put each idea in a box or bubble
📌 Link ideas with arrows — that becomes your SPOKEN storyline
📌 Doodle to show emotions, fear, sound + chaos
📌 Copy structure at first — voice grows by doing
Liz explains that nothing needs to be perfect. Pages may be messy. Drawings can wobble. The best work often starts with “anything at all”. If something happened today, it can live in a book. If not today — yesterday. If not yesterday — invention, stolen TV plots, overheard conversations or snacks dropped on a train.
Michael and Liz also explore humour, empathy, characters who fail, annoying classmates, gloomy teenagers, school plays, dogs who eat sausage rolls, and why Tom Gates succeeds because he doesn’t always succeed.
Teachers can use this video to:
📘 spark writing workshops
📚 encourage observational storytelling
✏ teach voice, doodle-narration, layout + visual writing
🎨 help reluctant writers take risks without fear
🧠 show how comics, fonts + pictures build story
This conversation is warm, generous, funny — and full of do-this-now inspiration for young writers who want to make something brilliant from nothing more than a notebook, a pen and today.
🔗 Useful links
🌐 Michael’s website – news, events & fun stuff: michaelrosen.co.uk
✏️ Discover Liz Pichon: lizpichon.com
#michaelrosen #LizPichon #tomgates #childrensbookseries
#creativewritingkids #creativewriting #creativewritingskills #creativewritings #creativewritingtips #KidsWhoWrite #DoodleStories #authorinterviews
#writingtipsandtricks #writingtips #illustrations #educationalvideos #schools #teachers
#youngwriters #bookshelf #kidsbookswelove #storytellingmagic
#TomGates
#WritingTips
#ChildrensBooks
#KidLit
#AuthorInterview
#KidsBooks
#SchoolLibrary
#TeacherResources
#Storytelling
#Inspiration
#HowToWrite
#BookTube
