Module 2: Hey, Al

Bibliography: Yorinks, A. (1986). Hey, Al. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 

Summary:  Al and his loyal dog Eddie live in a small one room apartment.  They are visited by a large bird that invites them to an island in the sky.  Eddie, who is dissatisfied with their living conditions, convinces Al to go to the island.  The two companions enjoy a life in paradise until one day they start to turn into birds.  They manage to escape but Eddie becomes exhausted and falls into the sea before he reaches home.  Al is heartbroken until Eddie shows back up at the apartment safe and sound.

Impressions:  Great book!  The illustrations, a cross between a realistic and cartoonish style, manage to faithfully bring to life important scenes such as the frantic escape from the island and Al’s reaction to Eddie’s apparent demise.  Children can learn an important lesson from this book – no matter how tough life gets as long as they have someone who cares about them they can handle any challenge they encounter.  The story also drives home the fact that paradise usually comes with a price.  I only had one issue with this book. Eddie appears to die in one scene which may be a bit difficult for very young children to understand.

Reviews:

“Like Maurice Sendak's ''Where the Wild Things Are,'' this picture book explores the pleasures and the costs of leaving home. The team of Richard Egielski and Arthur Yorinks - who have brought us the highly praised ''Sid & Sol,'' ''Louis the Fish'' and ''It Happened in Pinsk'' - have worked their magic again. Playfully written in the sharpie cadences of New-York-City-ese, and illustrated with rich and loving attention to every detail, ''Hey, Al'' is a perfect melding of words and pictures, fantasy and reality, tenderness and humor. There's a heavy-hitting moral here - about the charms of even the humblest home. But the message is benevolent, delivered with warmth and wit and imagination. And so, as the author would put it, ''What could be bad?''   (Excerpt from Judith Viorst’s review or ‘Hey, Al’)

Viorst, J. (1987). Children’s Books. New York Times Book Reviews. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/11/books/children-s-books-64188.html?ref=bookreviews

“This Caldecott Medal winner tells of a journey to paradise and the discovery that home is best. Ages 3-up.”  - Publisher’s Weekly

Publisher’s Weekly. (1989). Hey, Al Review. Publisher’s Weekly Online. Retrieved from http://search2.publishersweekly.com/search?site=all&client=universal&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=universal&filter=p&tlen=128&q=Hey%2C+Al

Suggestions for Use in a Library: Ask children what person (or pet) they feel closest to in their life.  Have each child talk about what makes that individual so special.