Lizard's Home

Shannon, George

ISBN 10: 0688160034 ISBN 13: 9780688160036

Publisher: Greenwillow, 1999

Synopsis

Lizard has always lived,snug as a bug,on his rock. But one day Lizard returns home to find that Snake has moved in! Zoli, zoli, zoli! Snake is big and fearsome and yricky.What can Lizard do to send him packing? From the incomparable creators of Lizard's Song comes another amiable, vibrantly illustrated picture book that sings right along and will have young children rooting for that resourceful underdog, Lizard. Sweet and jolly just right for storytime.

About this title

About the Author:

George Shannon has always felt close to frogs. "I was very frog-like when I was a kid," he says. "I was all long legs and long feet and nowhere to put them." Frogs have appeared in several of Mr. Shannon's previous books, including April Showers, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. In fact, the poet says he wrote the twenty-four poems in this book because he wanted the frogs in April Showers to have more songs to dance to. He is the author of many books for young people, including three Stories to Solve books. George Shannon lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In His Own Words...

"It feels as though I have always been wrapped in stories and books. My parents read to me, and I in turn read to younger brothers. Books and family stories filled our home, and going to the library was as common as going to the market. I began writing stories when they were given as assignments in elementary school, but I came to enjoy the writing so much I began writing extra ones. Then I wrote even when there was no assignment at all. My dream of making books was so vivid I submitted my first "formal" children's manuscript to a publisher when I was sixteen. Eleven more years of school, work, reading, writing, and luck finally brought about Lizard's Song, my first children's book to be accepted.

"Looking back, it seems especially appropriate that Lizard's Song was my first book. Even though I had been writing for years, I always felt everyone else's life held better ideas for stories than mine did. I thought there was nothing about me that was interesting enough to make a good story. But I finally learned what Lizard teaches Bear. My best stories come when I tell or sing about what makes my home. What I love. What I fear Things that have happened to me, and things I hope will happen. Things I like about me. Things I dislike about me. Things I'm starting to understand. Things that still confuse me. And, always, the books and art and friends that make me feel at home. So even though I am not a lizard, squirrel, or dancing frog, when you read my books you'll find little bits of what my heart calls home tucked inside the stories.

"My years as a children's librarian and, later, a professional storyteller continue to influence my writing, whether it is a collection of folktales like Stories to Solve or original stories like Dance Away and April Showers. I want my stories to sound as if-they are being told out loud with the rhythm of the words providing as much emotion as the words themselves.

"I also write many things few people ever see. Sometimes I begin a story but, as with a puzzle, can't find the missing piece. So I file it away to grow into another story at another time. I am also constantly writing letters and postcards to friends, and daily filling pages in my journal with anything that sparks my mind-all possible "missing pieces" for writing-puzzles yet to come.

"One of my favorite proverbs is "less is more," though that may seem odd for someone six feet four inches tall, with feet that need a size thirteen shoe. But I truly believe it. Distilled art forms like haiku and sculpture by artists like Isamu Noguchi and William Edmondson have always been my favorites. I believe books for young readers fall beautifully into this area as well. The challenge of sharing a story in as few words as possible and with a vital theme inside a "light-hearted" plot is one I sense I'll always enjoy as surely as I do reading."

From Booklist:

Any child ousted from a favorite spot by a belligerent classmate will relate to Lizard's predicament in this colorfully illustrated story. Lizard arrives home to find that Snake has taken over his favorite rock. Pleading and wishful thinking don't evict Snake, so Lizard proposes a public contest. Snake will put two pebbles in a bag, one black, one white; if Lizard draws the black pebble, Lizard wins the rock. Counting on Snake's deceitfulness in preparing the bag, Lizard draws but "accidentally" drops his pebble into a river before anyone sees it. Snake gloats that Lizard has "lost his chance." But by using logic, Lizard pulls out the remaining white pebble, proving that the lost stone must have been black--if Snake has been honest. Shannon's spritely, pointed story once again is happily illustrated by Dewey and Aruego's bright watercolors outlined in ink. A potential classroom read-aloud, this might aid a beginning discussion of probability. However, for younger children, have bag and pebbles on hand for what may be a difficult concept to grasp. Donna Beales

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwillow
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688160034
• ISBN 13: 9780688160036
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Aruego Jose, Dewey Ariane