Snip Snap!: What's That?

My 5 year old loves this book. I read it to his classmates in small groups at school, and they adored it and begged me to read it again. It is cute, not too scary, but let's them think it's about something scary. The illustrations are clever. The repetition in the story encouraged my young friends to read along with me; everytime I read, "Were the children scared?" they "read" along with me, "YOU BET THEY WERE!" My 5 year old still loves to shout that one out as we read it. I cannot fully describe how engaged all my son's classmates were. Their eyes were wide, their smiles were big, they leaned forward and inched closer and closer to me until they were nearly in my lap. Big hit! Recommend for ages 4-7.

If it is reading time, my three-year-old granddaughter always searches for this book. She recognizes one repetitive phrase throughout the book and now joins in the reading. This interaction and the wonderful illustrations, delight her. The story encourages children to face their fears in a fun rather than didactic manner.

Being allowed to read this book to kindergarteners, first graders and second graders is SO MUCH FUN, I can't believe I am getting paid to do it. From the title page to the first page of the story, we follow a path of footprints from an open man-hole cover, down the street into the lobby of an apartment building. When we look closely at the two page spread we can see a green tail disappearing up the stairs from the lobby. "When the alligator came creeping . . . creeping . . . creeping up the stairs..." Three children try to keep an alligator from coming into their home but can only run and hide as he breaches the doorway. As the alligator draws closer and closer the story repeatedly asks, "Where the children scared?" and answers with a resounding, "YOU BET THEY WERE!" As the alligator's tongue is flicking and his feet are kicking, listeners enjoy becoming delightfully scared as the beast draws closer and closer. I was cracking up watching the kids hide their eyes or cling to each other as the menace approaches. An empowering ending delightfully deals with the gator. Nick Maland's quirky illustrations perfectly convey the danger and help build the suspense. A two page close up of the alligator's head brings the peril right up to the reader's face. This was a fantastic read-aloud. I just wish I had had an alligator puppet to accompany the story.

So there you are, three kids alone in a lovely apartment in the city. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty! Especially when the alligator from the sewers decides to invade your home! This delightful funny/scary picture book is a welcome addition to my read aloud favorites. This book solved one of my biggest dilemmas, which is first graders. First graders are getting too old for the really young picture books, but they also aren't quite ready for the more wordy picture books you might use with third and fourth graders. Snip! Snap! What's That? Is a perfect fit. The premise is that an alligator creeps into the apartment where three children live and proceeds to scare them. The alligator chases after them for most of the story, until the children decide they have enough, and scare the alligator instead--sending it back home to the sewer. The text is simple, but poetically descriptive, and the best part is the repeating lines. "Were the children scared?" and "You bet they were!". Your listeners won't take long to latch onto the call and response participation. At these ages, audience participation is almost a must--these are kids who want to see, comment and respond to what you read to them. This book is probably a bit much for the very young child, or one who is extremely sensitive to scary things. But many children at the age of five and six like a good scare, especially when the scare is neutralized in the end. The vocabulary might be a little over the level for some first graders, but some discussion can help them understand the word meanings easily enough. The illustrations fit marvelously well with this story: it's told in a more comic book style, with a variety of panel sizes, and the text intertwining into the pictures on occasion. The alligator appears threatening as we page through, but he isn't so scary that kids are likely to be truly afraid. I've read this with much success to a number of audiences, and they constantly request to hear it again. A word of warning, if you do pick this book up for your children, you are likely to find yourself reading it often! For those who enjoy this book, and are looking for other great picture books for this particular age group, you might also try My Little Sister Ate 1 Hare by Dan Grossman. For a scary/funny style story try, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Checked 'Snip Snap' out of our local library and the kids loved it so much that I had to order one of our own. I have a 5 year old and a young 2 year old, and they both love it. The second I am done reading they emplore, "Again!" As a parent I appreciate the empathetic handling of fear and the way the children stand up to the aligator together. The illustrations are lively and humorous. I have given it as a gift already, and will again.