Baby’s First Train Robbery
Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins
Bloomsbury Children’s Books

It seems there’s no stopping Baby Frank who’s back for a third, let’s say reckless escapade.

With the family home now a zoo, life is pretty exhausting for Frank and his parents, so much so that Mum and Dad decide a holiday away is needed. Frank is less than enthusiastic to leave the zoo in Grandma’s care:; can she cope with tiger-sitting for instance? Nevertheless off they drive to the seaside, parents and infant.

Once on the beach with Mum busy building sandcastles and Dad snoozing in the sun, Frank makes a break for it having first left them a note. At the station stands a train and the babe is soon aboard, all alone. Nothing happens so Frank decides to investigate by crawling into the driver’s cab but he accidentally bumps his bum against a lever setting the train in motion.

Back on the beach meanwhile his parents make a discovery but by then there’s nothing they can do to halt the train as it puffs merrily along towards a very steep drop. Due to his lack of stature, there’s nothing Frank can do either; but what about Grandma?

Back at the zoo, she’s having a terrific time until she she turns on the TV, hears the news and sees where Frank and the train are heading …

Will young Frank ever see his precious animals again?

Told through Jim Whalley’s faultless rhyming text and Stephen Collins’ retro style illustrations that fuel the wonderful daftness of the story, this is once again a hilarious read aloud from team Whalley and Collins.