A shipment of 12,000 Flanimals Pop-Up children's books written by comedian Ricky Gervais has was stolen on the way to Candlewick Press' Indiana warehouse. The books are worth $240,000, so the police are treating as as grand theft and are investigating.
After being printed overseas, the books were shipped by boat to the west coast, then transferred to a train and later a truck; the driver discovered the books were missing after a stop in the Midwest.
Flanimals Pop-Up, illustrated by Rob Steen, will be released on March 9. According to the publisher, the theft will have no impact on the book's availability on that date. Flanimals Pop-Up is the first Flanimals title from Candlewick; Putnam has published two Flanimals picture books: Flanimals (2005) and More Flanimals (2006).
Gervais issued a statement about the theft, saying:
"This is obviously a misguided Flanimal Rights Group or an organized gang of eight-year-olds. Just like the books, the thieves will fold under questioning." If the police have any suspects, they aren't saying so.
A shipment of 12,000 Flanimals Pop-Up children's books written by comedian Ricky Gervais has 
