Big Al by Andrew Clements

Big Al

by Andrew Clements

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Poor Big Al! He just wants to make friends. And in the whole wide blue sea you can't find a nicer fish. But because Big Al is large and scary-looking, the little fish are afraid to get to know him.



What can he do? He tries everything he can think of -- from disguising himself with seaweed to burrowing under the ocean floor so he'll look smaller. But something always goes wrong, and lonely Big Al wonders if he'll ever have a single friend. Then one frightening day, when a fishing net captures the other fish, Big Al gets the chance to prove what a wonderful friend he can be!

I was asked to do an impromptu story time at the Carnegie Library where I worked earlier. There were 25 students who ranged in age between 5 and 13 who were in the library for story time and to design multi-colored fish as a activity. I wanted a children's book on fish that would segway I could share with the children.

I selected the delightfully gorgeous children's book Big Al written by Andrew Clements.

The children ranged in age between 5 and 13 so I knew I would have to be quite animated to hold all of their attention. It was such an exciting treat for me and for the summer camp students.

I enjoyed reading Big Al to the students.

What a lesson for them. Big Al is just like everyone else. He wants to have friends and be loved like everyone else. He does quite a bit to get attention. He tries all kinds of things to get their attention.

"First he tried wrapping himself up with seaweed. He thought it was a great disguise, but no one else did. Who wants to stop and talk to a floating plant that has big sharp teeth?

Then he thought that if he puffed himself up round, the other fish would laugh, and see how clever and silly he could be.

All they saw was how BIG he could be, and they steered clear.
Big Al tried other ways to get the attention of the other fish... But nothing seemed to work out for him......

Later a huge net captures the fish and guess who saves the day.....

You will have to read the book for the whole story.

I would recommend this lovely book to all children..... What a great read and lesson for children.

This was quite a treat for me and the students who attended my story time!

Kudos to Clements!!!!!

Happy Reading........ Until the next time............

A children's book a day, keeps the scary monster away!

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Here is the link on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Al-Andrew-Clements/dp/0689817223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281029401&sr=1-1