The Frank Show - written and illustrated by David Mackintosh

Every now and again a book appears on the doormat at Book Sniffer Towers which is even more unexpectedly wonderful than I ever imagined.

I had heard whisperings about The Frank Show on the sniffer grapevine so was eager as a beaver in a Christmas tree forest to get my mitts on a copy.

The Frank Show - written and illustrated by David Mackintosh

I was expecting a beautifully produced, exquisitely designed book with delectable illustrations and a nice-ish story but boy-oh boy hombre was I blown out of the water by this little smasher.

There are very few books which prominently feature the role of the grandparent these days which is a crying shame seeing as they play such a huge influential role in the lives of lot's a lot's of little sniffers.

The Frank Show is a story about a small boy who has to introduce a member of his family to the class, his parents are far too busy and his little sister is not that interesting at all which leaves the only other option Grandad Frank.

The boy thinks old people are a bit boring and that Grandad Frank mostly just complains about everything but as the story develops Franks wonderful life is revealed and it turns out he's IS cooler than a cucumber.

He eats pickled onions straight from the jar, he can tell when its about to rain because of a funny feeling in his arm, he has a tattoo, He hasn't brought a pair of pants in ten years, he can catch a fly with his bare hands (and let it go again) AND he has a rubber band ball that is 28 years old! That my friends is just the tip of the iceberg!

A beautiful rib tickling extravaganza and one I will read again and again and again (as I eat pickles out of a jar)

Three cheers for grandads, three cheers for Harper Collins and three cheers for David Mackintosh (designer extraordinaire)

And now I cast my mind back to the fond memories I have of my grandfather "Pa" who bred Orchids, made home made fireworks in the potting shed, baked the best bread any human has ever tasted, tied our go-kart to the back of a car, always took marmite on holiday and some Ryvita biscuits, was once poisoned by a sausage, lost his sense of smell, always had a small bowl of Alpen for breakfast, kept a jar of Fox's Glace mints by the sofa, taught me to Snorkel and painted beautiful buxom mermaids on pots. By Jove he was a good un' and I miss him.

All images (c) David Mackintosh