Old Friends, New Friends: 4, Pals on an Adventure

Ellen Pilon is a library assistant in the Patrick Power Library at Saint
Mary’s University in Halifax.

These three books about Douglas the Elephant and Albert Alligator are written and illustrated for 3- to 8-year-olds.

The first book is the best. Douglas and Albert tire of their present way of life and decide to have an adventure. They imagine different adventures in trains and boats. Ultimately they do indeed leave their families and set off together, sad but excited. The second book (number 3) is the worst. Douglas and Albert’s adventure has ended in the city, where they are now irritable and argumentative. They shout mild expletives at one another (“You bug me!” “You buzz off!” “Smelly jelly yellow belly,” etc.) for page after page. A neighbour, Rita Racoon, tries to stop the fight but both Albert and Douglas turn on her. Her disturbance, however, disrupts the fight and the two friends go for a walk together. Presumably Thurman is illustrating patching up a friendship after disagreements. The balance of the book is wrong, however: the large number of pages devoted to argument are stronger than the few pages on making up. My 3 ½-year-old thought the name-calling excruciatingly funny and two weeks after reading the book a dozen times he still yells “Buzz off” when angry. Children’s books with a message should minimize the negative in order to achieve a positive result.

The third book (number 4) shows Albert “in love” with a girl, a theme too advanced for 3-year-olds but of interest to those from 6 to 8. Douglas notices that Albert is behaving differently and discovers that Albert is in love. Consequently all Albert’s time is spent with Eleanor, not with Douglas. Douglas is not pleased. He sulks. Ultimately he meets Eleanor and her cousin Elaine and discovers that girls aren’t half bad. This is an excellent story showing children how their friends’ interests may change without altering their basic relationship.

All the stories are well written, interesting throughout, and readily understood by young listeners. The only tiresome part is the long list of alliterative animal names in the first book (“Olga, Ollie and Oscar Ostrich....Zelda and Zeus Zebra” etc.), a tongue-twister for the reader and tedious for the little listener. Thurman’s illustrations are bright and clear with good faces, expressions, and action. The drawings are limited to Douglas and Albert themselves. More than a couple of books in the series for one reader might lead to boredom.