Snip Snap!: What's That?
PreSchool-Grade 2&ndash;A wide-mouthed alligator slithers out of the sewer and slips down the street and up the stairs of an apartment house. The refrain sets the stage: "Were the children scared? YOU BET THEY WERE!" They try to stop the advancing reptile, but to no avail. Oversized fonts fill the pages with the "snip snapping" of its jaws. The watercolor-and-photocopied drawings show an aerial perspective of the siblings hiding behind a palm tree and underneath a piano. Suspense builds to a dramatic wordless close-up of the green beast's face. Finally, instead of cowering, the children decide "they'd had enough," and shout, "ALLIGATOR, YOU GET OUT!" The surprised (and frightened) intruder stumbles away and tumbles back down a manhole. Children will enjoy the onomatopoeic devices, and brave voices will chime in on this slightly scary read-aloud.&ndash;Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, CanadaCopyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.