The Frank Show

by David Mackintosh Narrated by Stephen Mangan

Overview

There's more to Frank than meets the eye...

A quirky, witty and utterly brilliant picture book from the award-winning creator of Marshall Armstrong is New to our School, performed by Stephen Mangan.

Frank is your typical grandad, but no one has a grandad like him...

If you had to stand up and talk, for one whole minute, about a member of your family, who would you pick? Everyone else chooses really cool people, like Tom's Uncle Marlon who plays drums in a band, or Hannah's mum with her company car. But there's nothing cool about grandad Frank... or is there?

In this hilarious, wise and heart-warming story, awesome new talent David Mackintosh shows with a supreme lightness of touch just how much the older generation has to teach us, and how much fun learning from them can be. Perfect for young boys and girls from 3+.

Stephen Mangan is best known for his role as Guy Secretan in Green Wing.

Frank's adventures are not just humorous children's stories, they are top-notch educational content that kids will love. Each short fiction piece is filled with action and adventure, making learning fun and engaging.

For fans of Peter H. Reynolds (When Things Aren't Going Right, Go Left), Tom Percival (Finn's Little Fibs), Kes Gray (Daisy and the Trouble With Unicorns), and Todd Parr (The Grandpa Book).

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times

Mackintosh writes with irreverence, and his illustrations are packed with prickly humor.
—Pamela Paul

Publishers Weekly

As in Marshall Armstrong Is New to Our School, British author/illustrator Mackintosh presents a story of an ordinary boy being won over, reluctantly, by someone outside the mainstream. In this case, it’s the narrator’s grandfather, Frank, a quintessentially cantankerous specimen of a man who believes things were better in the good ol’ days. “These days there are too many gadgets and gizmos,” Frank types out on a green “Prehistoric” brand typewriter. “I prefer doing things the old-fashioned way.” When the boy has to talk for “one full minute” about a family member for show-and-tell, Frank is his only option (“Mom was very busy and Dad had had a very long day”). The boy approaches show-and-tell like a prisoner headed for the gallows (Mackintosh draws him all alone in gray, while his classmates laugh and shout in color on the opposing page), but there’s more to Frank than his grandson realizes. Mackintosh’s busy, helter-skelter images contribute mightily to the story’s humor and emotional honesty, but it’s the willful personalities of both of these protagonists that make it stand out. Ages 5–7. (Aug.)

School Library Journal

Gr 1–3—The unnamed narrator explains that his class must introduce a family member for show-and-tell. It seems that everyone else has someone interesting to talk about. Tom's uncle is a cool musician who can be heard on the radio. Kristian's dad is a television comedian, and Fay's cousin works at the airport weighing baggage. Saul's aunt swam the English Channel. But the protagonist only has Frank, who is "just a grandpa." Frank is grumpy and always says that things were much tougher when he was young. He also thinks that there are too many "gadgets and gizmos" nowadays. He doesn't trust barbers, and he's not too sure about doctors, either. The boy worries that his talk is sure to be boring by comparison, and sure enough, he runs out of interesting things to share about his relative. But then Frank begins to tell the class about his military experience: "Bullets whistling all around like African bees," capturing enemy soldiers with only wit and force, and playing his bugle while leading the charge. He even has shrapnel in his arm to this day. It's the best show-and-tell of all. Rendered mostly in ink, watercolor, pencil, and some mixed-media collage, the cartoon illustrations are very funny. Frank's oversize glasses with a missing right temple enhance the mood. A sweet story that proves that elderly relatives can be cool after all.—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170213818
Publisher:	HarperCollins UK
Publication date:	05/03/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	Up to 4 Years

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