Nicholas and the Gang

Nicholas and the Gang contains 16 new stories about Nicholas, the French schoolboy, and his friends, many of whom are familiar from the other books in the series: there's Alec, who's always eating; Cuthbert, who's always top of the class; Matthew, who's always bottom of the class; and Mary Jane, the little girl with blonde pigtails who lives next door. As usual, the children get into all kinds of trouble, even though they have the very best intentions. In this book, they try to make friends with the owner of a new bookstore near their school, take part in a chaotic radio interview, and play an unusually messy game of chess.

Nicholas and the Gang is the fourth title in this well-loved series of books, now available to English-speaking children all over the world. Firmly established as a literary cult figure, the sublimely innocent Nicholas has already charmed millions of readers world-wide since these books were first published over forty years ago. Considered classics and available in twenty-six languages, the Nicholas stories continue to delight both children and adults.

Jean-Jacques Sempé (b.1932) is one of the world's most successful illustrators and cartoonists. He is the illustrator of the classic children's-book character, Nicholas, and author of a collection of some thirty albums of his cartoons and graphic novels, all published or to be published by Phaidon. His world-renowned illustrations and cartoons are featured on the cover of the New Yorker and in Paris Match.

René Goscinny (1926 - 1977) is the world-famous writer and creator, along with Albert Uderzo, of the adventures of Asterix the Gaul. Born in Paris, Goscinny lived in Buenos Aires and New York before returning to France in the 1950s where he met Jean-Jacques Sempé. They collaborated on picture strips and then stories about Nicholas, the popular French schoolboy. An internationally successful children's author who also won awards for his animated cartoons, Goscinny died in 1977.

Anthea Bellwas awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize (USA) in 2002 for her translation of W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz. Her many works of translation from French and German (for which she has received several other awards) include the Nicholas books and, with Derek Hockridge, the entire Asterix the Gaul saga by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.