Thomas Brezina (born January 30, 1963 in Vienna),[1] is an Austrian writer of children's books. He is especially known for his series The Knickerbocker Gang and his stories about the talking bike Tom Turbo. He has published over 400 books[2] and his work has been translated into 33 languages.[3] He also hosts several children's programmes on Austrian television.[4]
Brezina's most famous series include The Knickerbocker Kids, Sieben Pfoten für Penny ("Seven paws for Penny"),[5] and Tom Turbo.
The Knickerbocker Kids series describes the adventures of four friends between 9 and 14 years of age who solve mysteries. The series has been adapted for television.
The heroine of the Penny books lives on a farm and, in the series' first title (What is a dog's life, after all?), saves a dog from being killed. The "seven paws" of the title refers to Penny's dogs; one has four white paws and one has three. A book in the series reached fourth place in a 2007 poll of German children's favourite titles.[3]
The Tom Turbo stories concern a talking bicycle capable of 111 amazing stunts.[6] Together with his two friends, Caro and Claro, and his boss, Thomas Brezina, the bicycle solves mysteries. His main enemy is the purple-clad wannabe supervillain Fritz Fantom.
Brezina is also the author of the detective series A Mystery for You and The Tiger Team (known as 《冒险小虎队》 in Chinese), A Super Mystery for You and The Tiger Team (known as 《超级版冒险小虎队》 in Chinese), and PSSST! OUR SECRET (known as 《女生冒险小虎队》 in Chinese). These books have been translated into Chinese and widely sold.[7]
Thomas Brezina lives in Vienna, on the Lake of Neusiedl (Burgenland) and in London.[8]