The Frank Show (review)

When the unnamed boy narrator of this book gets a class assignment to prepare a one-minute talk about someone in his family, the only person available is his grandpa, Frank, whom the boy considers pretty boring. He nonetheless introduces Frank to the class, citing a handful of ordinary things that he knows about him: "Frank doesn't like noise, or today's music, or gadgets and gizmos (or new things), or haircuts, or weather, or doctors, or anything but vanilla." With time left to fill, the boy begins to panic, but Frank comes to the rescue with a fabulous tale "about how he led an army in a charge across a muddy battlefield . . . with bullets whistling all around like African bees" and the class responds with enthusiasm and delight. While the message may be as timeworn as Frank, the boy's voice and point of view are believable, with pithy observations of the small details that make up a child's life. The art is appealing as well; digitally created scenes pulls together planes of vivid color, a multitude of small elements outlined in black scrawls, and elements of collage. Strong compositions vary from elegantly simple (a nearly monochromatic Frank poses against a muted wallpaper-like background) to intriguingly complex (a tiny gray Frank and the boy stand in the midst of a busy cityscape with pops of bright color). Use this to add some new life to a unit or storytime about elderly family members or to inspire some grandparent show-and-tell sessions.