SNAKES HAVE NO LEGS!

A humorous picture book explores what snakes can and can’t do.

Snakes can’t wear shoes or gloves, of course, because they have no feet or hands—but can they wear a scarf? “Well,” writes Tills, “maybe a long, long one.” A mix of kid-savvy, funny-bone entertainment, and clearly expressed, simple facts about snake physiology and behavior, this story for children, from toddlers to early readers, will make adults smile, too. (Birds have two legs, the author observes, adding, “flamingos think they have one.”) In tandem with the humor, Tills informs her audience that even though snakes don’t have feet, they do have “tiny belly muscles” that allow them to coil and twist their bodies and slither “on the ground, up a tree, or in the water.” The author frames some of the story’s black-and-white images by GetYourBookIllustrations of a goofy, polka-dot snake and other cartoon-style animals on full-page backgrounds of saturated colors, many patterned with a reptilian scale motif. Other pictures are positioned on white pages and accented with colorful shapes. The book concludes with a gentle segue from Tills presenting comic and factual reasons that show snakes are “wonderful” to asking children to name something that makes them “wonderful,” too. The snake and his friends appear to be interested in the response. This work is part of the author’s Awesome Animals series, which includes Pigs Never Sweat! (2021).

A tongue-in-cheek look at snakes that will make kids giggle.