ALBAD THE OAF

According to the story, Albad wasn't really, he just needed a little helping nudge to make him Albert and respectable. Albad, an apparently completely unattached young boy, inexplicably spent all his time fishing even though he despised the occupation. His hatred of fishing was vented on all the other children who came to the river bank. But a little friendly concern from one little girl got him pointed on a job as delivery boy for the florist, cleaned up, and happy. It's a success story that fails to enchant, especially since the picture of the new improved Albad, or Albert, suggests an incipient Uriah Heep. The illustrations are pencil drawings with excessively photographic detail of the children, who are portrayed statically in weirdly dramatic postures, their expressions sometimes contradicting the text. The author is the well-known folk singer.