Fred's TV (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780920668597)

Fred is a television junkie. There's nothing he likes to do better than to settle in front of the screen for the weekend with a fluorescent soft drink, cookies oozing white cream filling, packs of purple foaming pellets, and more...while his mind becomes stupefied.

Feeling neglected by his parents, he drifts into a routine of watching TV for hour after hour. His father, angered by this "useless" activity, first hauls the TV down to the musty basement, where Fred re-connects it, and then outside. This is a big mistake. The TV gets wet in the rain, and then explodes when Fred tries to plug it in and watch it in the backyard.

This is the beginning of Fred's transformation. When the TV repairman takes the insides to the shop for repair, the empty cabinet becomes a refuge for birds. Fred feeds them, and, bit by bit, more birds come to forage in his television feeder. Sitting in front of it in the backyard, Fred becomes active again, responding to the creatures that relate to him in turn.