Frank and Bert (Frank and Bert, #1)

FRANK AND BERT is a sweet picture book about friendship and winning. Frank and Bert love to play hide-and-seek. However, Bert is not really great at it, and Frank is always able to spot him right away. To give Bert more of a chance, Frank has agreed to count all the way to 100. When he turns around, Bert's pink scarf has slowly unraveled, leading Frank right to where he is. However, when he gets there, Frank decides that his friendship is more important than winning, and lets Bert win this round. They then decide to switch places, and as Frank goes to hide, Bert is holding onto Frank's string...

What I loved: This was a simple but sweet story about friendship and winning - more specifically, about how winning is not as important as spending time with your friends. Frank and Bert were quite cute, and the feeling of winning (or losing) will resonate with the intended audience. Children often struggle with wanting to win all the time and disliking games when they lose. The book shows them how to be good winners and losers with an emphasis on how winning is not as important as their friendships.

The illustrations are cute but simple, and they allow readers to expand the story beyond what is written out, such as with the strings and being able to see Bert as he hides. Children will feel like they have been let in on the joke, which is all in good fun. The overall messaging is great, particularly for competitiveness and balancing it with friendship and being kind. As another small thing, it also includes the numbers they count when hide-and-seeking, so there is a bit to help toddlers/preschoolers with learning to count as well. This is done without making any particular page too long, so it flows smoothly and still reads quickly.

Another really cool feature is that the book features a QR code that allows you to download an audiobook version, which even includes a sound to turn the pages. This is great for allowing young readers some independence and gives caregivers a reading break when needed. The audiobook is very nicely done and captures it all perfectly.

Final verdict: FRANK AND BERT is a sweet picture about friendship and winning that will resonate with young readers. Highly recommend picking this one up!