When Billy Pickles' dad leaves home to live in New York, he gives Billy a money-box. Billy's not sure where to put in the money, and not sure why his dad has left.

Then Billy goes to New York to visit his father and his Italian grandmother, and discovers the secret of his magic money-box at last. In a wonderful adventure, he takes Mighty Mamma on a helicopter ride, cracks open a safe, solves a kidnap mystery — and gets to know his dad again.


Andrew Sachs has performed widely in stage, film and television. Television work ranges from Manuel in Fawlty Towers , Einstein in Horizon Special: Einstein , Peter Pryce in Jack of Hearts , Joseph in Silent Witness and Murray in Attachments . Films include The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Nowhere in Africa . He also does commentating, radio work (winner of the Sony Radio Awards 1989 Best Actor) and numerous voice-overs and audio books (Performer of the Year, the Spoken Word Awards 1999) .

One day when Billy pickles’ dad leaves home to live in New York, he gives Billy a money box. Billy is not quite sure where to put the money or why his dad left home. Billy then goes to New York to visit his Italian grand mother and his dad. Finally he discovers the amazing secret of his money box at last. You will have to read the book to find out the secret of his money box. This book was very intriguing and at the beginning of the story I really wanted to know the secret of the money box. When the secret was reviled I was not disappointed. I chose this book because I have previously read other stories by Sally Gardener. I especially like the way she writes about children with special powers, in this case the boy is very lucky with numbers. I would greatly recommend this book to ages 7-12. This book is aimed at both girls and boys. I enjoyed the story very much and I am sure that you will to. Overall I would rate this book at an amazing 8/10.

With my four year old, this story is a favourite. A loved but not too smart Dad leaves his family to find a dream and gets in deeper than he suspects. A son with hope in his heart sets out to ask "why" and ends up not only helping his Dad, but connecting with his extended family, solving crimes and a happy ending with his mum. A fun story for young and old alike - great travel story that helps the miles pass quickly.