A Girl and Her Gator

August 1, 2006
K-Gr 2 -When Claire discovers a gator on top of her hair, she is worried. However, Pierre assures her that she can do anything with him there -go to the fair, give her brother a scare, be a zillionaire, or eat an é clair. A convinced Claire attends ballet class, where everyone whispers and stares -because it -s cool to have a gator up there. Repetition of the phrase -with a gator up there - paired with the singsong rhyme makes Bryan -s slight and silly story great fun to read aloud. The text is placed in and around characters and objects and some of it is in big and bold font, which adds a nice visual appeal to the tale. Murphy -s spare, childlike line drawings are done in pink, green, and yellow with plenty of white space. This simple color scheme fits the story to a tee. Pair this tale with Bryan -s "A Boy and His Bunny" (Arcade, 2005) and David Small -s "Imogene -s Antlers" (Random, 1988) for a things-on-your-head-themed storytime." -Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2006
Claire awakes to find that alligator Pierre has made his home on her head. She worries that she'll be ostracized for this unconventional fashion: "But my friends will all whisper and gossip and stare"; instead she's heralded as a trendsetter. The book lacks direction, but its rhyme scheme is catchy and the illustrations are tastefully minimal.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)