S. Schell said
In the heat of the tropics, several small eggs hatch and tiny 8-inch snakes slither out, swiftly making their way out to the forest to explore and learn. One of them dilly-dallies, mesmerized by his colorful body and confused by his mother's encouraging words to "grow up big and green - as green as the trees' leaves." The Peter Pan of reptiles, "Verdi" is the charming story of a little snake who refuses to grow up.
Once a featured title on the popular children's program "Reading Rainbow", "Verdi" begins by introducing the reader to a just-hatched green tree python who after seeing how crotchety and lazy his elders are decides not to become like them, which means fighting off his inevitable maturation. Born with an eye-catching pattern of black markings littering his canary yellow scales, Verdi is a spry snake that flings himself about the trees, a little too adventurous for his own good. While fretting over the color change in his scales and slithering about, Verdi gets himself into a heap of trouble and is rescued by the adults. As he recovers from an incapacitating injury, he learns some interesting things about his peers and discovers that getting older isn't such a bad thing after all, so long as you remain young at heart.
Cannon's story slyly schools us on morelia viridis while dazzling us with her beautiful illustrations done in acrylic paint and Prismacolor pencils (and I can vouch for that brand, as I own a large set of them - they are EXCELLENT). Her excellence at rendering the anatomy of her star reptile comes from thorough, hands-on research with the help of Clay Garrett, a herpetologist at the Dallas Zoo and Robert Brock of the San Diego Zoo. At the back of the book are some source notes on snakes which include specific facts about the green tree python; these details will be of particular interest to children and adults who are animal and/or biology enthusiasts.
Bottom line: Fans of "Stellaluna" will love this work more so for Cannon's stunning vignettes, the story taking a bit of a backseat. Nonetheless, it is a frivolous and fun tale while being educational at the same time and Cannon's gorgeous depictions of wildlife will transport you to another world.
D. Blankenship said
This is a wonderfully written story of a young python, a young yellow python, who does not want to grow old a boring like the adult green pythons he see around him. The art work in this slender book is absolutely breath taking. The artist has blended his colors perfectly and created life like studies of these wonderful snakes but not life like situations as far as the snake world goes. This is the charm of the story. Few, if any, want to actually grow older and kids in particular do not want to do and act as "boring" adults. This tale lets the child know that we all can keep our child like wonder and love of fun into our adult years. I read this one to the second and third graders and they catch the meaning of the story quite well with a bit of prompting. They love the pictures, in particular the ones where the author has made the snakes rather hard to spot. I also not that this is one of the more popular books chosen by the children when they have their "read alone time." An endorsement of a children by children is as about as good as it gets. I must say though, adults will enjoy reading this with the children also which I feel is important as kids can sort of sense when your heart is not really in the reading. Recommend this one highly. Very much recommend you add this one to your child's collection or to your school library.
DCPJBURG said
Beautifully written and illustrated book for children of all ages with a wonderful message.
M. Finnan said
I bought this book for my four year old daughter. She loves it and wants me to read it to her over and over. She loves the story and the colors in the book. I love the educational and fun value that the book provides. I would highly recommend the book to other parents.
reader mother said
My 7 1/2 yr old 2nd grade daughter & I read Stellaluna off her summer reading list. I had heard of/seen this book around, but it had never grabbed me. I was quite surprized at the fabulous illustrations, the story that draws you in, & the author's ability to make a bat lovable. I was eager to read Verdi, expecting the same experience. I thought the story was OK & the illustrations beautiful, but the story itself lacked depth to me. The young whippersnapper & wise old sage qualities hit me as being more relevant to an adult reader. Children can not adequately appreciate the age contrast, & how quickly time passes, & how we all become more boring & old than our young minds thought we would. Curiously, my daughter liked Verdi as well, if not better than Stellaluna. To each his own - read & see what you think.
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