Snakes! [Hardcover]

David T. Greenberg (Author), Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

eviled by most, loved by some, and feared by all, snakes are an eternally fascinating subject to all kids. David Greenberg's frightfully funny verse will have readers shivering and laughing out loud! From an anaconda driving a car to peanut butter and jelly snakes, readers will see these slimy serpents revealed in a whole new light. Fans of David Greenberg's previous books and snake lovers of all ages will delight in this latest celebration of creepy creatures.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3-Fans of Slugs! (1983), Bugs! (1997), and Skunks! (2001, all Little, Brown) will welcome this latest addition to Greenberg's gross-out canon. A boy and his terrier have no problem with wrestling squids or battling sharks, but they balk at snakes. Naturally, they are beset by every possible variety, at every possible turn. There are snakes heaped under the bed and on the stairs, and, "With a herculean grasp,/A multicolored asp/Nonchalantly shimmies up a wall." The poetry flows easily and is filled with inventive alliteration and quirky humor: "A speckled anaconda/Steals the family Honda/And races down the driveway in reverse." There is some challenging vocabulary ("pyroclastic," "phosphoresce"), but children will likely be more than willing to make the stretch. Munsinger's watercolor illustrations strike the right balance between cute and creepy as boy and dog try to evade the slithery serpents. Not an essential purchase, but fun, particularly if the other titles are popular.
Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 1. "Tangled like spaghetti / Slithery and sweaty." The author and the illustrator of Bugs! (1997) and Skunks! (2001) present another hilarious book with a slapstick rhyme, this one about snakes taking over a small boy's world. The creepy creatures start off as a heap under his bed; then they slink down the stairs, shimmy up the walls, hide, and jump out of books and cabinets. Words and pictures wallow in the shudders. Maybe snakes do have some uses: as garden hoses, for cleaning ears, as nifty stethoscopes. But just as the boy is getting used to the invaders, he opens up the shutter to find a huge glaring eye, and then a great, terrifying boa squishes him in its coils. Is that final close-up a capture or an embrace? Munsinger's ink-and-watercolor images extend the silliness. They are packed with nonsense detail and yet clear and accessible for preschoolers, who will recognize the creepy delight of slimy monsters hissing in their ears. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316320765
• ISBN-13: 978-0316320764
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #917,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a super book for bug, snake and frog kids!!!, November 12, 2007

By 

D. Hieronymus "Doniology" (Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snakes! (Hardcover)

The 1-star reviews for this book are just not right. If snakes frightened my kids, I would NOT read this to them to begin with! Hello???

The author tells you exactly to whom he's writing:

"You're the kind of kid
Who likes to wrestle squid
Or battle in the bathtub with a shark

In no uncertain terms
You love the squirms of worms
Or hunting after werewolves in the dark"

On the back flap, Greenberg's bio states that he was dubbed "our emerging poet of Gross" by the New York Times! So he's trying to help the parents make wise reading selections for our kids.

I have two boys, 6 and 3. We are all very 'in' to science and nature. They catch bugs, worms, snakes (a few) and frogs all the time. So the idea of snakes doesn't scare us, and this content is completely appropriate. The passages the other reviewers presented were copied faithfully, but what they found scary, we found delightful. This book takes the reader on a SAFARI of language!!!

Lots of snake and bug books are either dry non-fiction, or-in contrast to this one-just not that fun. I love it when I find books that make children want to know what a new word means. And this book puts in a context that could actually help them remember it!

It really is a great book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone., October 19, 2010

By 

DD67 "babyonahill" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snakes! (Hardcover)

My son from the age of 3 and up has loved these books and now in 4th grade is enjoying reading these books for AR points. With that being said, these aren't for everyone. They have a gross kind of humor that not everyone will appreciate. My son and I really enjoy them, WE really enjoy the play on words, the imagination, the very busy illustrations, and the range of vocabulary in the reading is helpful for a young child learning about the world. Not meaning to give the impression that I think they are all that educational about snakes, I would consider this type of writting to be very fictional and way-out-there imagination. The skunk book by this author is our favorite, but this one is fun, also.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for older reptile loving kids...good gross out factor! Age 5+, October 12, 2007

By 

MomOf3Girls (Alta Loma, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snakes! (Hardcover)

This book is about a boy in his bed and snakes come out from under it and crawl all over and througout the house. It is written in clever rhyme with fantastic illustrations...probably the most eye gripping I've seen and I've been reading childrens book to my three girls for 9 years. They were all glued to this one again and again. Now, I can see the fear factor the other reviewer mentioned IF your kid has nightmares especially regarding snakes or things under their bed. I probably would not recomend for the younger set but five and up who can understand the humour in it and that it is just a book, it is great. It says things like "you can feel it in your ear, hideously near, then something heavy slides accross your toes" as you see it go over the boys toes. In the end after the snakes go all around the house and pour outside, the giant snake curls around the boy holding him in a grip but the snake has a cute smile on his face and it says "Then he hisses in your ear, I truly like you dear, and ssssssomeday (maybe) you will be releassssed" as if the snake is holding him fondly. Anyway, my kids loved it but each kid is different.