Albert

Everyday, Albert puts his hand out the window to decide if he should go out, but one day a bird starts to build a nest there, and ends up changing Albert's life. Albert is a very negative person originally, but the story shows his growth and change when he learns that the world isn't so bad as he

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thought. The story is set in a city with no name, to make it apply to any location at any time. The style seems a bit too wordy, with lots of words on each page, and takes away from the imagination that could build with such a story. The illustrations, though beautiful, are often over-shadowed by the too-descriptive story. Overall, it is an interesting story, but seems too wordy for the younger audiences, and I don't know that I would include it in my collection.

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book was a good example of realistic fiction because the story is about a man named Albert who sticks his arm out his window and a pair of cardinal's build their nest in his hand to have their eggs. Albert stands this way for a couple weeks, with one arm out the window.

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He befriends the birds and slowly starts to understand more of the world outside of his apartment. This story is possible in our world, but isn't completely plausible. It is easy to follow along with the author's plot. People don't have birds nests made in their hands, but they can become 'friends' with birds and learn more about their surroundings by new and various changes in their everyday life.

Critique: Characterization

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I thought this was a really sweet book, and I absolutely love the pictures! I wondered where the book would go after the nest was in his hand. I laughed when Albert peeped at the bird and it tried to feed him a beetle and then a berry. And I thought the last illustration of Albert "flying" on a

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swing was really sweet and something I remember doing as a child.

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A retiring young man named Albert manages to avoid the outside world in this debut picture-book from noted children's author Donna Jo Napoli, until an unexpected encounter with a cardinal couple forces him to consider what it is he's missing. Holding his hand out the window grillwork every day, to

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test the weather, the eponymous Albert always elects to stay indoors. Then one day, while performing this ritual, a cardinal alights upon his hand and, together with his mate, proceeds to build a nest. Our gentle hero, unwilling to destroy the nest, stands for twelve days as the eggs are laid and then hatched, witnessing many of the beauties of the outside world. When the avian drama is concluded, Albert makes the momentous decision to venture out...

I have to confess that the adult reader in me had a little trouble with the suspension of disbelief with this one - this doesn't often happen, as I am usually able to enter into the spirit of a given book, and appreciate it on its own level - and I kept thinking: doesn't Albert need to work, like all his neighbors? how does he survive for twelve days, even if the cardinal feeds him berries? what about water? Still, I liked the idea of Albert - that we need to take the time to really look at the world around us, in order to fully appreciate it, and that sometimes knowledge can help us conquer fear - and I thought the artwork, done by Jim LaMarche, was lovely. I don't know that children will have the same reservations about the story, that I did, so I recommend this one to children who are timid, and/or afraid of the outside world.

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This modern fantasy book tells about a man named Albert. Every morning, Albert sticks his hand outside the window to see what the weather is like. In doing this, he determines whether or not he should go on a walk. The weather is normally very bad, so he never goes for a walk. One day, Albert

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sticks his hand out the window and a bird drops a twig into his hand, and after a minute or so of these birds dropping twigs into his hand, a nest is built. The momma bird lays three eggs into Albert's hands. Albert doesn't want to disturb these baby birds so he stands holding the nest for weeks until the eggs are hatched. Albert builds a relationship with these birds and they teach him that there is something good in everyday so there is no need to stay inside. Once all of the birds grew up, Albert brought his hand back into the window, and started to take walks every single day.

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The reader doesn't know the history of Albert and why he doesn't come outside and interact with people on a daily basis. But, we do know that Albert wants to know the weather conditions, and thus every day, he sticks his hand out the window.

One day, a lovely cardinal drops a twig in Albert's hand.

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Then, more twigs are nestled in the palm of Albert's hand, and magically, he begins to interact with more than himself. Carefully watching as the bird lays eggs, Albert continues to hold his hand out the window.

This interaction and his desire to assist, lead him to venture out into his surrounding world.

This is a marvelous story with incredible illustrations of LaMarche, who is fast becoming one of my favorite illustrators.

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A modern re-telling of the story of Saint Kevin of Glendalough, who was so kind and patient that a blackbird nested and raised her young in the palm of his outstretched hand. In Ms. Napoli's and Mr. LaMarche's lovely version, Albert, a shy shut-in who doesn't like loud noises - like garbage trucks

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or angry arguments - stretches his hand out of his window daily to check the weather. One day, a pair of cardinals drop twigs in his hand, build a nest, lay eggs, and raise their young. Albert must now listen to the loud noises. When the birds fledge, Albert's life changes dramatically. Pitch-perfect prose and lush watercolors fill the reader with joy and hope. Albert reminds me that both the good noises and the bad noises are "part of the big, wonderful world." And that sometimes the bad noises aren't always as bad as you might think.

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