Gila Monsters Meet You At the Airport (Reading Rainbow Book) [Paperback]

Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Author), Byron Barton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Reading Rainbow Book

"I live at 165 East 95th Street, New York City, and I'm going to stay here forever," says a young boy. But his parents are moving out West, and he has to go with them--and out West, nobody plays baseball because they're too busy chasing buffaloes, and you have to ride a horse to school even if you don't know how, and you can't sit down because of the cactus! He just knows it will be awful.
This funny, sympathetic book is just right for children facing a move--or looking to laugh!

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (March 30, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689713835
• ISBN-13: 978-0689713835
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marjorie Weinman Sharmat has written every Nate the Great book. Here she collaborates with her husband, Mitchell Sharmat. They live in Tucson, Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful children's book on moving to Arizona, June 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport (Hardcover)

"Gila Monsters" has to be one of my favorite children's books. It addresses the fear of a young boy from New York, whos "parents are moving out west." His friend told him that "Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport," and he knows it's true, because he read it in a book.

When he finally arrives at the airport, he meets another young boy who is moving to New York and filled with fears, because there are alligators in the sewers. He knows it's true, because he read it in a book.

This book is a great way to defuse a child's fear of an upcoming move. And it's a fun read for adults as well!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just like Levar Burton said....A WINNER!, August 23, 2008

By 

Tiffany Jenson (Norman, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gila Monsters Meet You At the Airport (Reading Rainbow Book) (Paperback)

Gila Monsters at the Airport is a great book (even for older children up to age 10) because it discusses how kids think about different parts of the country and how they think people live. It's a nice effort at trying to explain how people (Westerners and Easterns) describe each other in backward ways. This teaches kids that they have more in common with people in new places that they move to than they think. A nice lesson that can be learned at any age.

A great book to help kids adjust to moving to the other coast of the United States and realize that alligators really don't live in the Eastern city sewers and that the West isn't just a dessert cactus village.

I loved this book on Reading Rainbow with good old Levar Burton. I still remember the song they sang with this book on the show. It was really cute. Enjoy this one with your kids!! They will love the illustrations and the way it is written (from a kid's vocabulary and point of view).

4.0 out of 5 stars Linking fiction to non-fiction in an elementary classroom, July 13, 2009

By 

Sandy Wheeler (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gila Monsters Meet You At the Airport (Reading Rainbow Book) (Paperback)

A recent issue of Bookbag magazine presented lesson plans on the topic of gila monsters, which immediately brought this book to mind. It is an entertaining means of linking fiction texts with non-fiction fact sheets, while addressing the issues of commonly held beliefs which may not be true, stereotyping, and the transient nature of the American family. This book makes a great read-aloud, and is also appropriate for reading circles and DEAR reading time.