Castles

by Colin Thompson

Enter world upon world, where castles emerge from thin air or spring up overnight in your own garden. Search the intricate pictures, and see if you can find the royal family hidden in the visually imaginative splendor of each castle. Then go back and look again—there are endless puzzles, mazes, tricks, and messages just waiting to be discovered. An ingenious picture book to pore over—again and again, inch by inch—from the acclaimed creator of The The Last Alchemist , Looking for Atlantis, Paperbag Prince , and The Paradise Garden .

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2006

About the author

Since he started writing and illustrating children's books in 1990, Colin Thompson has had more than 50 books published. He has received several awards, including an Aurealis Award for the novel HOW TO LIVE FOREVER and the CBC Picture Book of the Year in 2006 for THE SHORT AND INCREDIBLY HAPPY LIFE OF RILEY. He has been shortlisted for many other awards, including the Astrid Lindgren Award - the most prestigious children's literature prize in the world.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Colin lives in Bellingen, Australia. His books with Random House Australia include HOW TO LIVE FOREVER, numerous picture books, THE FLOODS series, THE DRAGONS series, THE BIG LITTLE BOOK OF HAPPY SADNESS picture book, which has been shortlisted for the 2009 Children’s Book Council Award for Best Picture Book, and FREE TO A GOOD HOME.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane]

This book keeps us busy looking for the royal families, again and again, because we always miss some. Great fun! And I love the little stories about the castles too!

[Portable]

This imaginative and lavishly illustrated book presents a selection of unexpected castles - from a cold potato mountain to the oldest castle in the universe. Lots to think about and discuss, especially when considering IB concepts of form (what is it?) and function (what is it for?). Lovely key text for our Unit of Inquiry into Structures, but lovely for K1 Stories and exploring imagination at any time.

[Jacqueline Ouldali]

Wonderful illustrations of castles built from a variety of whimsical materials, based around certain themes. Great for imagination and encouraging discussion/oral language with resistant readers/learners.

[Annie MacPherson]

Really interesting illustrations... Looks like early computer animation with mixed media.

[Anoara]

Your favourite holiday destination, this is a book you would want to visit again and again, to discover hidden treasures missed the first time round.