S-S-snakes!

February 1, 1995
Gr 1-3-This slim introduction offers barely enough information to whet one's appetite. Penner opens with a brief explanation of how an Indian snake charmer "charms" a cobra, and alludes to snakes in mythology and ancient history. The minimal text then describes some of the major physical and behavioral characteristics common to all snakes-diet, various hunting and feeding methods, birth of young-and special characteristics of assorted species. Full-color drawings of 30 representative species from around the world accompany each page of text. While they are adequate depictions, those of humans are mediocre; most of the children look like short adults. Although the book is clearly written, it suffers from poor organization; topics are addressed in random order. Also, the coverage is superficial. Descriptions of anatomy, methods of locomotion, and growth and development are particularly sketchy. Patricia Lauber's Snakes Are Hunters (Crowell, 1988) and Seymour Simon's Snakes (HarperCollins, 1992) provide more in-depth information on the same subject; the latter title also offers superb photography that gives a truer sense of the nature of snakes.-Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library

January 1, 1995
Gr. 1-2. One of the Step into Reading series, Penner's book offers the attraction of reading about a nonbabyish topic in an easy-to-read format. There are some flaws: the illustrations are only loosely related to the text and are not given geographical context, and the generalization "Mother snakes don't take care of their babies" is made to seem a "character" flaw. Still, the subject is bound to attract kids, and beginning readers will gain a sense of accomplishment from the reading as well as an increase in their knowledge of the subject. ((Reviewed January 1, 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)