The Lady with the Alligator Purse

Funny adaptation of a classic clapping / nursery rhyme story. I liked it quite well, except for the stereotyped genders of the doctor and nurse.

Funny adaptation of a classic clapping / nursery rhyme story. I liked it quite well, except for the stereotyped genders of the doctor and nurse.

This is a rhyming song book. A boy is sick and his parents call all sorts of people to come help, and only the lady with the alligator purse can help- she gives him pizza!

This is a perfect book for a young reader. The rhyming helps kids work on phonological awareness. The subject matter and tone is fun and exciting, making kids want to read it again and again, building their concept knowledge of books. It follows the traditional story line, giving kids exposure to story grammar. It is also just plain fun. My niece has this book read to her often and has it memorized.

“The Lady with the Alligator Purse” is about a lady that cures a young boy by feeding him pizza. In the poem the young boy is trying to eat everything in sight and the boy’s mother calls the doctor, the nurse, and the lady with the alligator purse. The doctor said it was mumps, the nurse said it was measles, and the lady said “PIZZA!” So the boy at the pizza, and they all went on their merry way. This is a cute story to read to small children. It is a short read that is quite comical and the illustrations in this book make it even better. I think children can learn from this book because it teaches them to not automatically think the worst. While the doctor and the nurse thought it was something sickening, really the boy was show more just hungry.
Extension:
1. Pizza party
2. Make our own purses with reminders in them to keep calm and think rationally about situations. show less

This is such a fun book to read or sing along to! Miss Lucy had a baby named Tiny Tim, and when she put him in the bathtub he drank up all the water, ate up all the soap, and tried to eat the bathtub! Miss Lucy called the doctor, the nurse, and the lady with the alligator purse for help. The doctor and the nurse thought something was wrong with Tiny Tim, and tried to give him medicine. But the lady with the alligator purse knew that Tiny Tim was just hungry, so she brought him pizza! Everyone eats pizza together, and Tiny Tim feels much better so the doctor, the nurse, and the lady with the alligator purse leave. This book is a hoot, and is sure to bring a smile to any child's face as they sing along with whoever is reading it to them.

I’m so grateful that my mom decided to keep some of our childhood books because The Lady with the Alligator Purse is a huge hit with Talal. Get ready to sing, use wild voices and goof around with this easy read! Fun tip: if you are unfamiliar with the melody/tune, you can look for the book on YouTube for a little extra help.

ISBN 0316930741 - The Lady with the Alligator Purse (the book, not the actual lady) seems to suffer from a split personality, in my opinion. Board books are generally made for the 0-3 age group, children who chew on books and bend or tear the pages. The Lady, and the rest of this set, to be accurate, is really for an older group, maybe 3-5. Hand clapping/slapping games are a bit advanced for the tiniest kids and since this rhyme is based on one of those games, it seems to indicate the book isn't for those tiniest kids.

Miss Lucy had a baby... who would've eaten the bathtub if it fit down his throat. Fortunately, it didn't but Miss Lucy still put out the call to the doctor, who called the nurse, who called the lady with the alligator show more purse. Stop me if you've heard this before. All right, so you've probably heard it before, and a recap is probably not needed.

Westcott's adaptation is fun - and cleaner than the rhyme we used when we were kids - and her illustrations are nice and the lack of the usual vibrant, colorful images that fill most books for the 0-3 age group might be another indicator that the book is aimed at slightly older little readers. Fun, and fun is good, but it's fun that's not even original, so I can't do better than 3 stars for it.

- AnnaLovesBooks show less