Be Gentle, Python! (Picture Books)

On Python's first day of school, she can't stop squeezing her classmates, until Elephant accidentally shows her how it feels.

PreSchool-Grade 1-These titles address unacceptable behavior in the classroom. In Python! a young snake repeatedly squeezes her classmates too hard and is reprimanded after Weasel tells on her. Later, when the young animals make colorful clay snakes, Elephant mistakes Python, who is dressed in a multicolored sweater, for clay, and begins rolling and squeezing her on the table. This incident leads the reptile to realize that squeezing is unpleasant. The fact that the situation is resolved by duplicating the offensive behavior is troublesome, and the teacher jokes about it when Python's mother asks how her offspring got along with the other students. Puma! is flawed as well. A sneaky-looking puma is told by his teacher that "School's fun-.You'll get a taste for it soon." He literally does, biting the tails of Elephant, Rabbit, and Monkey. Weasel tells the teacher, but the problem is not resolved until the students devise a plan to trick Puma into getting caught. His sudden understanding of how he hurt his classmates is unconvincing. Both stories are accompanied by bright but flat color illustrations of childlike animals whose movements and expressions are so exaggerated they make harmful behavior and unpleasant situations look comical. Although these stories address legitimate behavior problems, they miss the mark.
Melinda Piehler, North Tonawan- da Public Library, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Be Gentle, Python! and No, Biting Puma! by Jeanne Willis, illus. by Mark Birchall, teach gentle lessons to the littlest learners. Part of the Be Nice at School series, both books present cute but impish creatures as they wreak havoc on their first day of school. Python has a habit of squeezing his classmates too tight; Puma likes to bite. In the end, their classmates turn the tables and stop the unwanted behavior.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.