MRS. PELOKI'S SNAKE

by Joanne Oppenheim ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 1980

We were thinking up words that rhyme with 'lake' and I was just about to say 'cake' when Kevin came running out of the bathroom yelling, 'snake!'"" There really is a snake in the bathroom, Kevin insists, and soon Mrs. Peloki, investigating with trepidation, confirms it. Oppenheim, a second-grade teacher, bases her little anecdote on a recent experience and gives an amusing and very recognizable view of the fright, banter, horsing-around, and general disorder occasioned by the find. Dos Santos poses and positions her kids to bring out the dynamics of the uproar, though her washed-out colors and faces detract from the general vitality. Nevertheless, a lively interlude--and Oppenheim gives it a unifying finishing touch after the narrator (a girl) discovers that the dreaded snake is ""nothing but a fat gray string from a dirty old mop."" As the kids, still a little wiggly, return to their seats, the heroine of the day brings them back to the lesson by volunteering the phrases ""a snake mistake"" and ""a fake snake.

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S