Snip Snap!: What's That?

This is a great, suspenseful book about three children trapped in an apartment with an alligator. And were the children scared?

YOU BET THEY WERE!

Of course, there's a happy ending, when they finally stand up to the alligator and chase him away before he can eat them.

This is great fun to read, with the frequent breaks to yell "YOU BET THEY WERE!" at the top of your lungs, and the opportunities to ham it up with those sound-words. I suppose it might be a little scary for some children, as there is the constant threat of death by alligator, but....

Retelling: There is an alligator in the house and the children are scared. But in the end, with a little courage, they prevail. Mara Bergman uses repetition and sound words to create a sense of suspense. Illustrator Nick Maland, captures only pieces of the beast at a time, making the alligator seem even more mysterious.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book reads like a ghost story to me. The author slows down the alligator's approach revealing only a piece of the alligator's fearsome appearance at a time and leaving the rest to the listener's imagination.

This book has amazingly colorful pages with full illustrations. Not leaving any white space. The words are expressive with different sizes and fonts to add life to the book. It makes reading the book with passion and excitement just that much easier. It shows the children being afraid of the alligator and all the things that are scary about the alligator. But, eventually the children get tired of being scared of the alligator. They grow courage and yell at the alligator to go away. Thats when the alligator gets scared of them and goes back home. It's bright illustrations truly make this kid-friendly and expressive. I would highly recommend this book for a read-aloud.

Great repetition and mystery. The kids went crazy for it. It's a little too involved for a young toddler set, but it could be done anywhere from 2 1/2 or 3 all the way through ages 6 or 7.

Good storytime fun.

Oh, how I love this book. With an older (or braver) crowd, this book can be read with tons of suspense. For the younger set, I'll have the children recite along with me the repeat, "You bet they were!" and encourage them to move their arms 'swishing' the alligator's tail. That seems to break up the tension for them.
Snip Snap!

Wonderfully suspenseful! Younger children love this book! Love the illustrations! We chant the repetitive lines together for great fun.

Very cute book. It's intense and very funny.