Reminiscent of We're Going on a Bear Hunt, this text is an absolute delight to read aloud, enabling a child audience to really join in. An alligator is creeping up the stairs, slithering down the hall and swishing and swooshing its tremendous tail and the children are very scared. Until they decide they've had enough of all this scary alligator stuff! And they banish him back from where he came. Beautifully designed and illustrated this book is a real treat!
Mara Bergman (Author)
Mara Bergman is an award-winning poet and children's writer. She grew up on Long Island, NY, and always knew she wanted to write. Her poetry has been published widely in magazines and anthologies in the UK and abroad. Her short collection, The Tailor's Three Sons and Other New York Poems, won the 2014 Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Competition and was published in 2015 by Seren. Mara has always felt a strong link between poetry and picture books and began to write for children when her own were young. She has published more than twenty books, including Snip Snap! (reissued as Snip Snap Alligator!), illustrated by Nick Maland, which won the Stockport Children's Book Award and, in the US, a Parents' Choice Award and the Society of Illustrators' Silver medal. In 2009 she won the Booktrust Early Years Prize for Oliver Who Travelled Far and Wide, also illustrated by Nick Maland. Mara works in London as a children's fiction editor and lives in Kent. Visit her at www.marabergman.com
Nick Maland (Illustrator)
Nick Maland graduated in English and Drama from London University in 1981. He pursued a career in the theatre, acting and directing in the London fringe, and, during this time, developed an interest in drawing, which soon took over as a full-time occupation. He has worked as an editorial illustrator for the TES, The Times, The Observer, The Guardian and The Independent amongst others. He was shortlisted for the Mother Goose Award in 1996 (for Welcome Night) and the Children's Book Award in 1998 (for Brave Whale). Further prestigious wins include the V&A illustration award in 2003 (You've Got Dragons) and the Silver Medal in Society of Illustrators Original Art 2005 Exhibition as well as the Stockport Children's Book Award (for Snip Snap). Oliver Who Travelled Far and Wide won the Booktrust Early Years Award. He has a daughter and a son and lives between London and France.
Title: Snip Snap
Author: Bergman, Mara
ISBN: 9780340882160
Binding:
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Publication Date: 2006-03-16
Number of Pages: 32
Weight: 0.1815 kg
Brilliantly written and illustrated * Love It *
[A] well-crafted story about facing down fear * The Guardian *
An amusing and tension-filled tale that turns tail and runs on adrenaline power until the very end * The Lady *
This is a class act * Times Educational Supplement *
A great read aloud and a good giggle * Publishers Weekly *
An extremely well written and well designed picture book which will be relished by both young children and the adults who share it with them * Carousel *
Nick Maland's clever perspectives make the alligator increasingly alarming as he swells to fill more and more of the page in this well-created story of facing down fear. * The Guardian *
Using elements of rhythm and rhyme as well as an enjoyably predicable question-and-answer refrain the text maintains a playful tone beneath the scary details... Expressive line drawings, brightened with watercolour washes, illustrate the story with wit and style... good fun. * Booklist *
Mara Bergman and Nick Mayland tell an amusing and tension-filled tale that turns tail and runs on adrenaline power until the very end. The illustrations add to the appeal of this book. * The Lady *
Here's a picture book which, read aloud, will transform any teacher into a star performer; the fanciful situation, rhythmic text, onomatopoeic words, graphic clues for varying verbal volume and masterly cartooning guarantee this is a class act. The young audience can enjoy a delicious dose of the horrors, while learning that, when afraid, it's best to face up to your fears. * TES *
Deliciously scary, but with the obligatory happy ending, this bold and colourful picture book will be real hit with those coming up to school-age. * Carousel *
While Bergman's rhythmic vocal text propels the story forward, it is Nick Maland's illustrations, watercolour on photocopied drawings, that actually provide the book's suspenseful foundation. * NY Times *
....extremely well written and well designed picture book which will be relished by both young children and the adults who share it with them. * Carousel *
One of CCBC Choices for 2006 (Cooperative Children's Book Center's annual best of the year list. ) * CCBC *
...for its youthful audience it becomes a gripping saga of danger and heroism; children dealing with their own imaginary monsters may benefit from a few storytimes with this lively teaching tale. * Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 2005 *
To accompany this lively text, Maland creates pictures that not only mirror the writing, but also offer humor and fun on each page... Reading this picture book aloud is great fun for the reader and listener. * Parents' Choice Foundation 2005 *
An infectious chime-in makes this the spunkiest read-aloud we've found in a long time. * Halfway Down the Stairs, Michigan USA *
This terrific edge-of-your-seat read-aloud will have young listeners holding their breath as the alligator gets closer and closer, licking his lips. * The Bookcase of Wanzata, Minnesota, USA *
PRAISE FOR YOU'VE GOT DRAGONS - illustrated by Nick Maland
My favourite picture book of the year - The Glasgow Herald
Remarkable - The Sunday Times
