Hank Meets Frank

What’s it about?

The story.

Frank is Hank's cousin. Frank has come to stay. Frank is also a goose, and Frank has his own highly developed set of antisocial tendencies that clash spectacularly with Hank's. What happens when two well-meaning chaos agents are put in the same house? Maudie Powell-Tuck structures the book as a comedy of competitive misbehaviour: Hank and Frank each try to outdo each other, with the surrounding community on the receiving end. Duncan Beedie's illustrations capture the dynamic of two animals who are simultaneously rivals and co-conspirators, each trying to be worse while both being equally bad. The family-visit scenario maps perfectly onto a child's experience of cousins: the temporary alliance, the rivalry, the strange loyalty, the relief when the visit ends. A strong follow-up to Hank Goes Honk that rewards readers who already know Hank, the comedy is richer when you have expectations for the character, while also working as a standalone. Particularly good for children navigating extended family dynamics.