Albert the Albatross
Sid Hoff ~ Harper & Row, 1961
As I've mentioned before, I'm not the biggest Sid Hoff fan because all his animal characters tend to love being caged and kept. Danny and the Dinosaur aside, this was one of my son's first favorite books, and it really is a delightful little tale of a bird, the sea and the sailors who love him.
Albert was a bird.
He lived on the ocean.
He was an albatross.
Sailors liked to see him.
An albatross is good luck.
But when Albert loses his sailors, it looks as if the luck thing really goes both ways. He ends up finding his way home via a hat in a hilarious turn of events. I love reading this one in a silly English accent, particularly when the woman with the hat talks. It always cracks my son up. And, I like how the albatross is presumed the smartest bird of them all. Ever since I saw an actor preform The Rime of the Ancient Mariner when I was in the fourth grade, the mere mention of that bird has given me the willies, so it's nice to have the animal put into perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment