Albert le Blanc to the rescue by Nick Butterworth

This is the second book about a special polar bear called Albert Le Blanc.  At the end of last term a parent from our school donated a huge number of second hand books.  Most of these will be placed in classrooms, a few are going to a country school with a small library and a handful will become part of our library collection.

As I sorted through all these books I was keeping my eye out for any real gems and I found this one.  Albert Le Blanc is a wonderful book about the way we judge others by their facial expressions.

Albert looks so sad that the other toys decide he needs cheering up.  They don't listen when Albert tries to explain about his face.  In the final crazy moment of the show Sally the hippo lands on top of Albert and plants a huge lipstick smile onto his face and everyone laughs.

We have had this book in our school library for many years but I had no idea there was a sequel.  In this second installment Albert Le Blanc to the rescue Sally herself has been sold which is sad but Albert is still able to see her as she is carried by her new owner when she is shopping.  One day, however, Sally falls out of the little girl's bag and into the mud.  She is picked up by a stranger and taken home and washed.  Albert is desperate to help Sally and then he sees her hanging on a clothes line just outside the toy shop window.  It will take co-operation between all the toys to rescue Sally.  If you love the movie of Toy Story you will really enjoy this adventure.

If you enjoy this book you should also read Arnold the Prickly Teddy by Kym Lardner.

As a bonus this copy comes with a listening CD.  You can hear it here.