Warning: suspension of disbelief is required before proceeding. Imagine a small, solitary figure walking slowly along a winding track somewhere in the central Australian desert, "about two feet tall and covered with short brown fur," by Howard Anderson's description. "He had a short, thick tail that dragged on the ground when he walked upright and a ducklike bill" where his nose would be--oh, and he's carrying an empty soft drink bottle. Meet Albert, a recent escapee from the Adelaide zoo. This platypus wanted to be free, to discover a place where things haven't changed: Australia "like it used to be." Now he's out of his native element; cut off from water, he is lost and dying. So begins Albert of Adelaide, Anderson's charming and delightful first novel.
Fortunately for Albert, he stumbles upon a welcoming camper named Jack--a large, singing, pipe-smoking wombat with a graying handlebar mustache who provides tea and survival. They set off together and soon come upon a supply depot in Ponsey Station run by a kangaroo with a bar frequented by heavy-drinking bandicotts. After a raucous night, the store burns down; Albert and Jack barely escape alive and decide it's best to split up. Albert is learning fast. He has to feed himself, protect himself and make his own decisions. Some decisions were better than others and, as Anderson writes, a "really bad one could have serious consequences." Like, for example, embarking on a life of crime....
And so it goes, as Albert faces one adventure after another, including a near-death experience. This animal kingdom is no zoo and Albert must truly stay fit (and savvy) to survive amidst all the violence. Just like other talented writers before him who can magically make moles and rabbits feel, talk and walk about, Anderson keeps it simple. Books like The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down--and Albert from Adelaide--explore timeless themes of friendship, loyalty and survival by presenting their animal characters in a straightforward, believable way that just happens to be fantastical as well. They also appeal to the child in us who oh so wants to believe in another world so far from here. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher
Shelf Talker: Join Albert the platypus on a delightful, sometimes harrowing, road trip in Australia during which many things happen--not all of them good.