Burglar Bill

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We know by now that this is of course what all burglars say when they are burgling a home, so Burglar Bill realises he's being burgled and goes downstairs and sees a woman with a striped top and a mask over her eyes. Burglar Bill is a 1977 children's picture book illustrated by Janet Ahlberg and written by Allan Ahlberg about a burglar who accidentally steals a baby. She just left him on the door step while she was busy burgling and the next thing she knew, he'd gone. Burglar Bill is the delightful story of a thief who lives off other people's fortunes, until two major events change his life forever.

After all, that poem - perhaps meant to mock sentimental stories like Frances Hodgson's Burnett's Editha's Burglar - also dealt with a burglar and his transformative encounter with an innocent child. 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.

With some other pieces it was published in 1888 as Burglar Bill, and other pieces for the young reciter. Originally published in 1977, and recommended to me by an online friend, Burglar Bill is only the second picture-book I have read from Janet and Allan Ahlberg, following upon their classic Each Peach Pear Plum. Bill and Betty exchange pleasantries and after a short while Bill describes his unusual find the other evening. 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. It's interesting to note that a number of online reviews criticize the fact that Bill and Betty were never punished for their transgressions, leading me to wonder whether this issue has ever caused the book to be challenged, when it comes to inclusion in school and public library collections.

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. Highly recommend this book for KS1 during story time, children will engage with it as it is very light hearted and has great pictures that go alongside the story. My 8 year old still insists I read it to him at least once a month and I love the fact that if my 19 year old is around when we are reading, he will linger long enough to hear the end. I really don't like the story, and it's largely because I'm rarely a fan of books that have a woman and man meet and get together because they share this one thing in common story.The baby and Burglar Bill end up spending a day together, but when Bill is putting the baby to bed, he hears an intruder downstairs. The real adventure begins when he burgles a big brown box that was left on a doorstep, takes it home, and realises there's a baby inside it. Some readers loved the book's charm and unique story, while others did not see it as being morally acceptable for a young child to read, as the subject of burglary is taken fairly light-heartedly without serious consequences. One thing that struck me whilst revisiting this was how quick Bill was able to react to finding a baby thrust apon him, adapting to the responsibility so quickly.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. He confronts the burglar, who he discovers is Burglar Betty, and they talk to one another to find they have much in common. I note that many American libraries in WorldCat have it in their collection, so perhaps the eventual reformation of the characters was enough for it to pass muster. And to get the children to draw a wanted poster of Burglar Bill or any of the other characters from the story, which would serve as visual material for their Police station role-play area or contribute to a classroom display.Allan Ahlberg is one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series.