Burglar Bill

Product Information

Bright illustrations (if somewhat stereotypical, with Burglars Bill and Betty in stripy shirts, eye masks and carrying swag bags! I find amusement in the fact that my issue isn't with the Willingly Be A Criminal Without Consequence, though that is a problem, but with the fact that it's teaching very typical media versions of relationships, which always bothers me.

Allan Ahlberg has published over 100 children's books and with his late wife Janet, created many award-winning children's picture books, including Cops and Robbers, It was a Dark and Stormy Night, Each Peach Pear Plum and the Kate Greenaway Medal winning The Jolly Postman. However the really lovely thing is how he is a reformed character by the end of the story so no wrong messages being sent about stealing. Warning: this book may encourage children to become burglars purely from an excessive delight in the world and all its manufactured goodness.Many of his books were collaborations with his wife, Janet, an illustrator, and they quickly became one of Britain’s leading author/illustrator teams.

The improbable union that follows offers a convenient moral that turns both thieves into honest folk who vow to keep on the straight and narrow. Oh, by the way, here come some spoilers - stop reading now if you want to read this book and be surprised by the plot twists! I wanted the mask and the cap and the striped jumper and the sack, and I wanted Bill's cosy looking little house, and to sleep all day and go out at night (this may be the genesis of my love of vampire lore too). Anstey's 1888 Burglar Bill, and Other Pieces for the Use of the Young Reciter, might have been an inspiration for the Ahlbergs.

The illustrations really make this a great book, and the story is heartwarming and fun at the same time.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.We have enjoyed Peepo, Funnybones, Each Peach Pear Plum, The Jolly Postman, Please Mrs Butler, and the wonderful Happy Families stories. Every morning he has stolen toast and marmalade - as with The Tiger Who Came To Tea , there is the incongruous mix of traditional cosy English life along with something quite forceful and unmannerly. We read it last night, and the kid loved it so much that he insisted we read it again first thing this morning.