An uplitfting story about a bear without a smile.

David Jason's brilliant reading brings the delightful story of Albert Le Blanc to life. Coupled with lively music and sound effects, this CD is sure to become a firm favourite for parents and children alike.

When Albert le Blanc arrives in Mr Jolly's toy shop, the other toys think he's the saddest-looking bear they have ever seen. They decide to put on a show to cheer him up. Albert tries to tell them he's not sad, he just looks sad, but they are all too busy making preparations... As a finale, Sally the hippo puts on a lipstick and performs ballet, but she falls on top of Albert and leaves a huge lipstick grin on his face. Everyone laughs...especially Albert!

This book was recognised by the Kate Greenaway Medal Award. The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by childrens librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2005 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Nick Butterworth was born in Kingsbury, North London in 1946, but moved to Romford in Essex with his parents at the age of three. They moved to run a sweet shop, so Nick found himself fulfilling every child's sugar-coated dream of growing up right inside the proverbial chocolate factory. Having intended to go to art college after leaving school, Nick decided to take a job as a typographic designer in the printing department of the National Children's Home at the last minute instead. He went on to work for several major London design consultancies before moving into freelance graphics. He has also worked as a television presenter on the TV-AM children's programme Rub-a-Dub-Tub and produced a regular illustrated story called Upney Junction for the Sunday Express magazine. At present, Nick concentrates on writing and illustrating his phenomenally successful children's books. Percy The Park Keeper first came to life in One Snowy Night in 1989, which The Sunday Times described as, 'a tremendous and well-deserved success' and The Independent called, 'a heart warming bedtime tale. ' It wasn't just the reviewers who loved Percy and the world of his park - children, parents and teachers alike fell in love with the kind hearted park keeper. More Percy adventures followed and the range now includes 6 hardback books, paperbacks, audio tapes (read by Richard Briers) and a range of activity books. The latest Percy book, Percy's Bumpy Ride was published in October 1999.