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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous Illustrations and a Timeless Story of Values, 26 Jul 2004
This book won the Caldecott Medal as the best illustrated children's book of 1987. The wistful, bright water colors will entrance you and your child as you follow this excursion into fantasy.
Al, who is a janitor, lives in a one room, one bathroom apartment on the West Side of New York City. His only companion is his loyal dog, Eddie. Not only is the place small, it is not very neat and tidy. Eddie yearns vocally for a house with a back yard. All this changes one morning when Al is startled by a huge rainbow-beaked toucan-like bird poking his head into the bathroom while Al prepares for work. The bird offers Al and Eddie a change. The next morning, both are ready and waiting in the bathroom. The bird carries them to a misty island high in the sky filled with beautiful pools, waterfalls, vegetation, birds, and butterflies. "Unbelievable" is their reaction. "They never had it so good." They lazed in pools of water, and ate wonderful ripe fruit. What a change from a small apartment! But one morning, Al and Eddie started to turn into birds. Al doesn't want to be a bird though. They head back, flapping their wings. Eddie tires and falls into the sea. Al barely gets to the apartment, where he is heartbroken over Eddie's loss. But Al has regained his human form in the process. Then, Eddie returns, having swum from where he dropped into the ocean back to the shore. Al realizes that "Paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found." The last scene shows Al starting to paint the apartment a bright yellow as Eddie looks on. The story follows the general theme of many children's stories where the reality of experiencing something more that has been yearned for makes the characters realize the greater value of what they already have had. You will find this theme in stories as diverse as Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew. Naturally, this story is a set-up to help you and your child discuss and count your blessings, including each other. You can also relate the story back to experiences about being glad to return home from a trip or a vacation, even though everyone had a wonderful time. Put what you have in perspective of the lesser alternatives, and strive to make the best of what you do have!
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by David Shannon
