The Adventures of Albert, the Running Bear
This is a real winner, completely captivating the children. Albert, a performing circus bear, moves to the zoo when his circus goes out of business and, bored in his cage, decides to practise his tricks. The zoo visitors are delighted and shower him with titbits despite the warning notices (our Infants were very shocked and indignant at this point!) with the inevitable result that he becomes too fat and has to go on a drastic diet.
In desperation he escapes from the zoo in search of marshmallows and fruit gums and, after a dreadful experience in the rubbish lorry, becomes involved in a marathon race; the rest you'll have to read for yourselves. As a book to entice readers ever-faithful to the old favourite Football Crazy, this is a must and has passed from hand to hand ever since it was first introduced to the class.