Albert 3
by Lani Yamamoto
There's an Albert 1 and 2, but this stands on its own as a sweet and poignant glimpse inside a four-year-old boy's head.
And I know that four-year-old. Change his name to Seth, and it's the same kid, trying to keep himself amused -- quietly, please -- while I put his sister down for a nap.
Everyone tells Albert he's such a big boy, and he wants to figure out exactly how big. He measures himself against ants, a sunflower, the sky. He crosses the "pit of peril," really a gap between the sofa and ottoman filled with toothy plush toys.
So of course this calls for removing all his clothes, as he decides:
Sometimes he felt big,
and sometimes he felt small,
but he always felt like Albert!
Yamamoto mixes reality and imagination, with a few surreal twists and much that doesn't get explained because it obviously makes perfect sense to Albert.
Simple ink drawings filled in with flat color make for a pleasing and understated layout, the better to keep us inside Albert's busy mind. And what a fine place it is to be.
Note: I couldn't find an Amazon thingee for Albert 3. My apologies.
Rating: *\*\*\
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