Frank and Ernest Book

First published in 1988 and now back by popular demand, Good Dog, Carl illustrator Alexandra Day’s Frank and Ernest is the entertaining tale of a bear and an elephant who learn to run a diner.  The charming illustrations of the Deco-era diner and the novelty of its animal employees will appeal to children, but the diner slang that Frank and Ernest learn and use will delight parents and children alike.  Frank and Ernest will reveal the meaning of “burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it,” “a stack with Vermont and a blonde with sand,” as well as “guess water,” “balloon juice,” and “million on a platter.”  As in her popular Carl books Day excels at visual jokes and loving detail, but in Frank and Ernest the text is as delightful as the pictures. 

Publishers Weekly

Frank, a bear, and Ernest, an elephant, specialize in taking care of small businesses while the owner is away. When Mrs. Miller hires them to run her diner for three days, they assure her that they will take good care of it. Then Frank decides they must learn diner lingo before they begin. For an order of a hot dog with ketchup and a dish of Jell-O, Ernest yells, ``Paint a bow-wow red, and I need a nervous pudding.'' And for a vanilla milk shake with an egg in it, to go, Frank calls out for a ``white cowmake it cackle and let it walk.'' As Frank and Ernest take care of the customers, readers will enjoy the funny way in which an order is translated into diner-ese; it's just the kind of wordplay that kids like, and love to imitate. Frank and Ernest, in stodgy colors of brown and gray, form a contrast to the airy lines of the gleaming diner, but look perfectly comfortable in the art of slinging hash. Ages 5-8. (September)