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Aldo
This beautiful picture book depicts the everyday life of a lonely little girl whose home life is empty—apart from her parents' arguments—and whose school life is overshadowed by bullies. The comfort she finds from her secret friend Aldo is heartwarming. John Burninham is the author of Borka , Granpa , and Oi! Get Off Our Train .
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
John Burningham
163 books106 followershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bur...
Married to Helen Oxenbury They have one son and two daughters.
John Burningham was born in 1936 in Farnham, Surrey, and attended the alternative school, Summerhill. In 1954 he spent two years travelling through Italy, Yugoslavia and Israel, working at a variety of jobs.
From 1956-1959, he studied at the Central School of Art, after which he designed posters for London Transport and the British Transport Commission. He also spent a year on an animated puppet film in the Middle East. He then became a writer and illustrator of children's books, his first book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers (1963) winning the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1963, an achievement he repeated with Mr Gumpy's Outing (1970).
Since then, he has written and illustrated many children's books. He is also a freelance designer of murals, exhibitions models, magazine illustrations and advertisements.
Married to Helen Oxenbury They have one son and two daughters.
John Burningham was born in 1936 in Farnham, Surrey, and attended the alternative school, Summerhill. In 1954 he spent two years travelling through Italy, Yugoslavia and Israel, working at a variety of jobs.
From 1956-1959, he studied at the Central School of Art, after which he designed posters for London Transport and the British Transport Commission. He also spent a year on an animated puppet film in the Middle East. He then became a writer and illustrator of children's books, his first book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers (1963) winning the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1963, an achievement he repeated with Mr Gumpy's Outing (1970).
Since then, he has written and illustrated many children's books. He is also a freelance designer of murals, exhibitions models, magazine illustrations and advertisements.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 25, 2022
A little girl is lonely and bullied, luckily she has Aldo. Aldo is a rabbit, he could be an imaginary friend, a guardian angel/rabbit or perhaps a parent. But the main thing is, Aldo is there when things get bad.
Lovely Burningham illustrations and a reassuring message that when things are bad (hopefully) someone is looking out for you. We could all do with an Aldo in our lives.
Read on open library.
Lovely Burningham illustrations and a reassuring message that when things are bad (hopefully) someone is looking out for you. We could all do with an Aldo in our lives.
Read on open library.
September 19, 2019
Depressing undertone about loneliness, looking at how one can escape into fantasy
October 1, 2019
A brilliant book with a dark twist
April 30, 2019
Very sweet story, illustrated in John Burningham's signature style, about a little girl who is sometimes picked on and frequently lonely, who conjures up a rabbit friend named Aldo. (Reminiscent of Harvey from the Jimmy Stewart movie, or Maurice Sendak's Mr. Rabbit.) One illustration bothered me, of the little girl being bullied in the school bathroom, in a way that looked much more like middle schoolers than the much younger child this story is so clearly written for.
April 16, 2020
John Burningham, you have read my heart.
True confession: I'm 51, mentally ill, and because of my values I have hardly any friends to give me support. So I invent friends in my own mind, and somehow it seems to work. Most mentally ill people have voices that yell in their heads. My imaginary friends, are more compassionate, more supportive, and very good at blocking out what bad voices I might get. Maybe when reality will hit me hard, and God yes it has tried, I won't need them as much. For now they're all I've got to keep stable.
John Burningham knows this intuitively, and wrote his book Aldo with kids in mind, kids who, like myself these last five decades, need access to their inner voice for comfort and guidance, ie, an imaginary friend.
The girl in this book has Aldo, a huge dragon to protect her if she imagines him. He can't always save her, this being reality, but he's there when she needs him.
Me? I have several "friends". I'm schizo. I have the right to my claim.
One especially (ready for this); Katniss Everdeen.
But that's another story for another time.
Four stars
Imaginary friends take you ALDO WAY!
True confession: I'm 51, mentally ill, and because of my values I have hardly any friends to give me support. So I invent friends in my own mind, and somehow it seems to work. Most mentally ill people have voices that yell in their heads. My imaginary friends, are more compassionate, more supportive, and very good at blocking out what bad voices I might get. Maybe when reality will hit me hard, and God yes it has tried, I won't need them as much. For now they're all I've got to keep stable.
John Burningham knows this intuitively, and wrote his book Aldo with kids in mind, kids who, like myself these last five decades, need access to their inner voice for comfort and guidance, ie, an imaginary friend.
The girl in this book has Aldo, a huge dragon to protect her if she imagines him. He can't always save her, this being reality, but he's there when she needs him.
Me? I have several "friends". I'm schizo. I have the right to my claim.
One especially (ready for this); Katniss Everdeen.
But that's another story for another time.
Four stars
Imaginary friends take you ALDO WAY!
March 19, 2022
A deceptively simple story of a lonely girl and her imaginary friend, a lovely rabbit (or hare?) who comes when she needs him. The sketchy illustrations by the author are awkward and pitch perfect and the use of color to identify character and emotion is brilliant. Most haunting is the evocation of loneliness in a child, of feeling different and isolated at home and school. Pitch perfect and haunting. For the child who is living in this state I would think this book to be a godsend.
Read
June 6, 2021Very simple little story about an imaginary friend. I imagine you could use this to talk about coping skills? I liked it, honestly. I like the little girl who's by herself and needs help and makes up her own little friend to help her. Sweet little story.
April 24, 2013
I basically liked this book about a girl with a special rabbit friend (an invisible friend, I believe, but I don't think the book uses these words.) It is especially good for only children.
However, it makes a huge mistake when she constantly says that Aldo is kept a secret. The idea that kids are encouraged to keep their special friends a secret rubs me the wrong way. (What if their special friend is a pedophile?)
However, it makes a huge mistake when she constantly says that Aldo is kept a secret. The idea that kids are encouraged to keep their special friends a secret rubs me the wrong way. (What if their special friend is a pedophile?)
July 5, 2016
Aldo is a sparsely written, poetic story about how a girl copes with her loneliness and deals with bullying. It will be especially helpful to children dealing with these issues, enforcing that they are not alone. It is a lovely story that doesn't offer any "easy solutions". Rather, it offers empathy and understanding, and encourages children to be persistent and resilient in the face of adversity. Nicely handled, with adorable illustrations.
September 17, 2010
Mommy says: A young girl tells about her imaginary friend Aldo
September 17, 2010
Mommy says: A young girl tells about her imaginary friend Aldo.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews