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Series Comedy ages 3–6

Frank and Bert

Part of the collectionFrank and Bert
Adult crossover

Frank the fox and Bert the bear are best friends whose small adventures always come back to kindness, honesty and catching each other when it counts.

  • Books5
  • Arcs1
  • Span2022–2026
  • StatusOngoing
Start hereFrank and BertBook 1 · 2022 · the natural entry to the series
Open

The series

At a glance.

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros's picture-book series follows Frank the fox and Bert the bear, best friends whose adventures are small in scale but big in feeling. The founding Frank and Bert sets the pattern: a game of hide-and-seek that Frank could win, but chooses not to, because keeping his friend happy matters more. The books that follow each take a relatable childhood moment — learning to ride a bike, temptation and telling the truth, feeling left out, facing a fear — and play it for gentle, deadpan comedy that reads aloud beautifully. Every story turns on Frank's good intentions going comically awry and the two friends catching each other in the end. Warm, funny and reassuring, the series is ideal for the youngest readers and for talking through feelings together.

Frank the fox and Bert the bear are best friends whose small adventures always come back to kindness, honesty and catching each other when it counts.

Primary themes

Overall tone

  • Funny
  • Warm
  • Heartwarming
  • Silly
Reading order

Episodic — each book stands alone with no continuing story, so any order works. Frank and Bert is the first and introduces the pair.

One arc

The shape of the series.

  1. I
    Standalone collection arcBooks 1–5 · 2022–2026Low sensitivity

    The Frank and Bert stories

    Every Frank and Bert book — a fox, a bear, and one small friendship lesson each.

    The series is fully episodic, so this single arc gathers every Frank and Bert story. Each one takes a small, recognisable childhood situation and plays it for warm, deadpan comedy: winning versus kindness in the original hide-and-seek tale, trust and perseverance in the bike book, temptation and owning up in the missing biscuits, loyalty and feeling left out over football, and facing a fear together with the frog at the pond. The books can be read in any order, though the first introduces the pair most cleanly. Throughout, the register stays gentle and reassuring, the lessons land lightly, and every story ends with the two friends putting things right — making the whole run a dependable bedtime and talk-about-feelings choice.

    Best fit

    3–6read-aloud 2–6

    Reads as

    • Funny
    • Warm
    • Heartwarming
    • Silly

Fit check

Right for your reader?

Where the series lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • 15
  • 17
  • 19
  • Best fit · 3–6
  • Read aloud · 2–6
  • Independent · 5–7

Reluctant-reader friendliness

Very high

Read-aloud quality

Excellent

Adult crossover

High

Grows with the reader

Not especially

Sensitivity envelope

Low overall, and consistent.

LowSeries-level

Where it sits

In conversation with other series.

Similar in feel

Different shelves, same wavelength.

About the author

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros.

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Both

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros: author-illustrator of Frank and Bert and the award-winning The Suitcase — deadpan, laugh-out-loud picture books with real heart for 3–6s.

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