Little Albatross

Here’s an apparently simple eco-thriller of a picture book. While mother and father albatross are off on a fishing trip a skulking skua has predatory designs on their only offspring, all alone on the family cliff-top. While diving deep, both parents become entangled in fishermen’s nets, which also trap dolphins and turtles. Hauled aboard the fishing vessel, the birds are freed and fed by the crew and fly back just in time to skewer the skua and feed Little Albatross. ‘That’s what we’re here for,’ says Mother.

Illustrated with Foreman’s usual lilac-tinged competence, this is a satisfying adventure-tale of a seldom-featured species, whose real burden is that fishing nets don’t only catch fish but dolphins, turtles and diving birds too.