The Shopping Basket

Having complied with his mother's request: Pop down to the shop for me ... and buy six eggs, five bananas, four apples, three oranges for the baby, two doughnuts and a packet of crisps for your tea.... young Steven encounters a series of intimidators on his way home, each of whom demands one of the items from his basket. Undeterred by their threats, the bespectacled hero efficiently dispenses with each would-be assailant, arriving home safe and sound albeit without a few of his purchases. The straightforward delivery of the prose is brilliantly counterbalanced by Burningham's hilarious portrayal of the incidents. Don't on any account miss this one.