Big Al by Andrew Clements and illustrations by Yoshi, 1997. Picture Book. Ages 5-8.
The story of “Big Al’ is about a lonely fish who makes desperate attempts to make friends. Al is kind and gentle but he is also distinctly hideous. His enormous size doesn’t help and his clumsy attempts at impressing the other fish only drive them away.
But one day, a school of fish get caught in a fishing net and they find out that there is more to Al than meets the eye.
The tale of looking beyond a person’s appearance is a familiar one. Nevertheless in this image obsessed society that we live in ( notice that none of the Disney heroes are ever ugly or fat ), our kids need to hear this message time and time again.
The illustrations portray Big Al in all his majestic ugliness. His dark brown, bulging, pimply body is contrasted with the serene blue of the ocean and the pretty colours of the other fish.
Please download the activity sheet here. It contains reading questions, an art project and a writing project to accompany your reading of this book.
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