New Releases by Colin Thompson

A book about a special relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter who tries to see life through his eyes When you are very, very young or very, very old, you can see things out of the corner of your eye. In between, all you can see is all you can see. Unless you are very, very lucky. Then the corner of your eye stays awake forever. The story of an ageing man who has lost something. But what and where? His granddaughter, Sally, helps him find it. Subtle and touching, this is an emotional response to people trying their best to live in an imperfect world.

Wait a minute, Earth isn''t meant to be pink, and have three moons . . . The Contrast family just wanted to return home after their five minutes of fame living on the moon for the ultimate reality television show, Watch This Space. But it seems that despite rRego the robot being smarter than every human alive, something went wrong when he set their spaceship on a course back to Earth.

"Everything in this book is true. You might think some things are just too unbelievable or funny or silly to be true, but every tiny detail really did happen." Take one small boy; add manic depression, three wives, three daughters, two divorces, amazing creative talent, and Asperger''s syndrome. In this memoir, Colin Thompson invites you to explore his almost-unbelievable life from past to present, though not necessarily in that order. Filled with family photographs and mesmerising illustrations drawn by the author himself, prepare to step inside the life and mind of an extraordinary man. If you, or your friends or relations, have ever felt that you do not fit in this world, then this book will tell you how one person survived it all.

Kids adore Colin Thompson’s brand of off-the-planet humour. Now here’s an off-the-planet series to make them laugh even more! Radius Limpfast is one of the world’s richest men. His reality TV shows have made him billions. The next series is always greater than the one before and yet he is never satisfied. Then one night, after a particularly creative bacon curry, Radius dreams up the ultimate reality show. No matter whatever anyone else comes up with, they will never be able to top it. Radius is going to send a family to the moon. Limpfast TV will pick an ordinary family, just like yours, build a rocket and a big glass dome and put them all together on the moon. And the whole world will be able to tune in and watch them whenever they like. This will be reality TV at its finest. What could possibly go wrong?

Everyone''s favourite scaredy-cat bulldog is back -- with puppies! Everyone''s favourite scaredy-cat bulldog returns in a brand-new adventure! When we last saw Fearless, he had fallen head over paws for the beautiful Primrose. Now, they''ve got puppies to care for, and Fearless must figure out what it means to be a father. Fearless warns his children about the dangers lurking around every corner -- things like vacuum cleaners and handbags -- but when Primrose is in trouble, will Fearless put aside his fears or will it be brave pup Eric to the rescue? Another charming and hilarious tale about Fearless the bulldog, from award-winning duo Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis. Ages: 2-5

Nothing and nobody is safe in this third collection of hysterically funny poetry. WARNING: only read this book if you have a sense of humour! There’s something really nasty on the bottom of my shoe It’s making me feel sick. Can’t you smell it too? I don’t know what it is, but it smells much worse than poo. COLIN THOMPSON''S hilarious poems are wonderfully matched by illustrator PETER VISKA''s zany illustrations. They team up again on My Brother Drinks Out of the Toilet and other poems and The Dog''s Just Been Sick in the Honda and other poems.

A riotous collection of poetry about toilet-water drinkers, non-stop eaters, rock ‘n’ roll teachers and much, much more! My brother drinks out of the toilet; He does it to make Mum go mad. Each time she catches him at it She says, ''I’m telling your dad.’ COLIN THOMPSON''s hilarious poems are wonderfully matched by illustrator PETER VISKA''s zany illustrations.They team up again on There''s Something Really Nasty on the Bottom of My Shoe and other poems and The Dog''s Just Been Sick in the Honda and other poems.

What happens when the King goes Doolally? Find out in the latest Floods adventure. Everyone gets old, even witches and wizards. Their backs get stiff. Their feet get sore, and their brains go and live far, far away. Not even Nerlin Flood, the King of Transylvania Waters, is immune to the curse of old age. The rest of the family have noticed that Nerlin is slipping into total Doolallyness - he even has an invisible friend called Geoffrey-Geoffrey, who warns him not to eat broccoli because it will give him global warming. Will the Old Crones be able to cure him, or is Nerlin doomed to spend his twilight years talking to the wall, wearing a crooked jacket* and incompetence pants? * Which is actually a more accurate description of a straitjacket.

The only thing Fearless could remember his mother telling him was, ′Life is much nicer if you love everyone.′ But loving everyone is much more complicated than Fearless had imagined. Until he meets Primrose ... A hilarious new picture book about Fearless the bulldog from award-winning duo Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis. Ages: 4+

Grandfather left his grandson a seafarer’s chest, a parrot called Titanic and a dream – the dream of looking for Atlantis. “Atlantis is right here all around you,” Grandfather said, “you have to learn how to look for it.” So when Grandfather dies, the boy starts looking: in the chest, on shelves, in books, under the stairs. Colin Thompson’s dazzingly detailed pictures richly illustrate the boy’s magical journey of discovery.

Betty and Ffiona cooking dinner? Run for your lives! Betty and her friend FFiona love cooking. The trouble is, they are both so useless at it that their families make themselves ill just to avoid their meals.It isn''t that their families are too kind to tell the girls how bad their cooking is - they actually tell them all the time. But Betty and Ffiona don''t believe them, and now the girls are planning to open Transylvania Waters''s first gourmet restaurant. Queen Mordonna forbids them . . . unless they can prove their cooking skills by winning TV''s most popular cooking contest. Will they poison all the judges, or will The Cheffie Olympics be Betty and Ffiona''s finest hour?

Arthur has been crowned King, and peace and happiness have broken out all over Avalon. Life has never been more peaceful and everyone is living happily ever after. So why are so many people planning rebellion? On one hand, the Dragons are planning an uprising. On the other hand, King Arthur''s revolting little cousin Mordred is planning an uprising. And on the other, other hand, Brassica, the deposed fake King Arthur, is planning an uprising. It''s lucky that Merlin, who has more than two hands, has everything under control. Or does he . . . ?

A charming tale of the perils of immortality, from one of Australia''s best storytellers. Peter lives with his mother and grandfather in the museum, which has the most weird and wonderful exhibits and a hundred secret doors. When his grandfather gets sick, Peter decides to search for his long-lost father. Instead, he finds a strange old woman who gives him a book called How To Live Forever but makes him promise never to read it. Trapped in a world where books are houses, Peter meets a girl called Festival, and together they look for the Ancient Child, who has the answers to everything.

In Transylvania Waters Mordonna and Nerlin should be King and Queen. But there are some seriously nasty characters standing in their way . . . After years on the run, the Floods are coming home. And just in time too. Since Nerlin and Mordonna fled Transylvania Waters, things there have gone from worse to much worse. King Quatorze has bled the country dry. He''s even sold everyone''s shoelaces. It''s time for a change, time for life with a lot less cabbage and a lot more chocolate. But first the Floods have to get rid of the old king . . .

The Floods family are on the run from an angry father with a talent for exploding, some very nasty but rather bumbling spies and the prospect of a life down the toilet... The Floods family are on the run! Travel back in time to faraway Transylvania Waters and find out what happened when a lowly drain cleaner called Nerlin Flood fell in love with the royal princess Mordonna. Can the two escape from an explosively angry King Quatorze, the nastiest spies in the land, and the prospect of life down the toilet? Why does their eldest child, Valla, drink blood? Was Satanella really turned into a dog because of an accident with a prawn and a faulty wand? This is your chance to find out how all the Floods children came to be born - or created.

The first in a laugh-out-loud series from the ingenious mind of much-loved children''s author Colin Thompson. Nerlin and Mordonna Flood have seven children, most of whom were not created in the traditional way like you or me, but were made in the cellar, using incredible mystical powers, some very shiny Jamie Oliver saucepans and a small chemistry set. The youngest child, Betty, is a normal, pretty little girl - but she''s a useless witch. Her attempts at magic often go wrong, with unexpected yet welcome results. The next-door neighbours should’ve known better than to rob a family of witches and wizards. But they did, and they''re about to find out what the Floods do to bad neighbours...

What do you get when you cross the legendary heroes of Camelot with the legendary humour of Colin Thompson? The Dragons! In the days when dragons roamed the earth turning people into toast, a mighty King ruled the world. This King lived in the great castle of Camelot in the beautiful island of Avalon. Guided by the great wizard Merlin, this King became a legend and his name was Arthur. The trouble with legends is that every time their stories are told they become more and more fabulous, so useless twits are often turned into superheroes.This is the true story of King Arthur, who was not a superhero. He was a nasty little spoilt brat who was totally up himself. Or was he . . .?

King Arthur has been overthrown. Long live King Arthur! The Dark Ages are over and the wonderful Days of Yore have begun. Everyone is looking forward to a magnificent coronation of the new King Arthur, followed by huge amounts of legendary peace and happiness that will entirely cover the whole of Avalon and there will be purple tights for all. But there is a rebellion in the land. Brat, the old false king, and Bloat, a teenage dragon, have vowed to overthrow the lovely wonderful King Arthur and bring back the Dark Ages. But Morgan le Fey and Sir Lancelot and a thirsty vampire will save the day. Or will they?

The Floods take on Wall Street and solve the global financial crisis in the ninth book of their hilarious, bestselling adventures. The world is in a recession and millions of people have lost millions of dollars. And just when things are about to get even worse, the Floods set up Summer School in New York and take control. Hooray, help is at hand - but as they say, charity begins at home. So millions of people will probably lose millions more dollars, but it will all work out fine in the end. Well, for the Floods anyway. Hey, come on. They’re witches and wizards, not some sort of charity.

When Betty becomes best friends with her new neighbor, and attempts to use magic to help her adjust to the new school, some surprising things happen. 15,000 first printing. Reprint.

Looks can be deceiving. . . . Betty Flood looks normal, she attends a normal school, and she does normal homework. She comes from a family of wizards and witches, though, and that means she is anything but normal. Betty''s new best friend, Ffiona Hulbert, however, is a completely ordinary girl from a regular family. She even has normal problems—like school-yard bullies. When Betty decides to use the Floods'' magic to help Ffiona and her family, you can bet that even they won''t be normal for long!

After years on the run, the Floods are coming home. And just in time too. Since Nerlin and Mordonna fled Transylvania Waters, things there have gone from worse to much worse. King Quatorze has bled the country dry. He''s even sold everyone''s shoelaces.

Orkward, Quicklime College''s biggest bully, devises a horrid plot to get the better of the Floods, a family of witches and wizards, during the annual sports day competition.

A family of wizards and witches living in an ordinary neighborhood in an ordinary town decides that they have had enough of the noisy family living next-door and makes them disappear.

THE FLOODS 1: NEIGHBOURS Nerlin and Mordonna Flood have seven children, most of whom were not created in the traditional way like you or me, but were made in the cellar, using incredible mystical powers, some very shiny Jamie Oliver saucepans and a small chemistry set. The youngest child, Betty, is a normal, pretty little girl - but she''s a useless witch. Her attempts at magic often go wrong, with unexpected yet welcome results. The next-door neighbours should''ve known better than to rob a family of witches and wizards. But they did, and they''re about to find out what the Floods do to bad neighbours . THE FLOODS: PLAYSCHOOL Look through the cobwebbed, murky arched window in deepest Patagonia, and this is what you might see... Every day five of the Flood children travel halfway round the world to Quicklime College, the ultimate school for witches and wizards. There''s no time for silly games flying around on broomsticks. Sports day is coming up, and before you even wonder how four-legged Satanella copes with the three-legged race, here''s a secret for you. Orkward Warlock, the vilest child in the school, and his sidekick, The Toad, hate the big happy Floods family. And they''re plotting to kill the Floods - on sports day.

A family of wizards and witches living in an ordinary neighborhood in an ordinary town decides that they have had enough of the noisy family living next-door and makes them disappear.

While the Floods were on holiday with their human friends the Hulberts, the Hearse Whisperer totally destroyed their home back in Acacia Avenue. So now they''re on the run again . . . To avoid detection they are, like, totally heavily disguised, man.