Children are thoroughly enchanted with the original concept of “Snow Alligators”.
This story establishes a new myth.
It places Snowmen as the defenders against Snow Alligators, and only Snowmen built by children have the necessary magic to ward off this snow menace.
Children delight in this innocuous fearsome threat. It perpetuates the construction of snowmen, and solidifies a reason for this already common activity.
In warm or seasonally cold climates, this story fires a child’s imagination.
On the very last page is the word “scare!”
Adults should use this opportunity to explode and to tickle the child. From then on, children will often giggle with anticipation of this activity and the nature of the story.
Ideal for a bedtime read.
If you like this one, other stories like ‘Cross Your Fingers’, ‘Everyone has a Name’, ‘Gingersnap Dragons’, ‘Foggy Daze’, or ‘Sick Again’ you will find great for family laughs.
Alternatively, I have several fully illustrated stories, like ‘Monsters I Know’, ‘Kids I Know’, ‘Hector the Collector’, or ‘Marmalade Jam and Chocolate Eclairs’,and some others that are simply magical to experience, like ‘The Immovable Rock’ or ‘The Very Last Apple’…these are the feel-good kind of bedtime stories that everyone looks for when reading to children. The best illustrations are often inside the imaginations of children. www.readingtochildren.com
My stories are designed for both the reader and the listener.
Children will request parents to re-read, over and over again, a story that has caught their imagination.
If not in rhyme, these stories will quickly become dull and a burden to read.
When written in free verse, a story is both a delight to read and to hear.
The reader feels accomplished when reading my stories and, in the act of story telling, begins exaggerating tone, inflection, and mood.
When constructed in free verse rhyme, while reading along, children quickly begin to retain portions of each story.
Once the child begins reading independently, these stories act as memory assisting templates to guide the beginning reader through their first reading selections. The reading successes of a child will fuel additional comprehension activities and help to jump start reading skills that greatly motivate the young reader.
For the adult reader these stories are always a treat.
I understand the necessity to include a readers interests and needs as part of the story telling activities.
The length of these stories is designed to be between 10 to 15 minutes, to act as a short break or bedtime activity. Unlike Dr. Suess, I have avoided making up new nouns and adjectives for purposes of rhyme,
other than some tintinnabulation (words designed to give greater description of sounds), finding that teachers do not appreciate this activity.
I find that by identifying children by full name, as the story characters, it adds a sense of character reality and identity. The children accept the diversity of people, which, in turn, opens the imagination to accepting limitless fictional situations and opportunities.
My stories constitute several conceptual elements to motivate reading and precipitate a positive child’s reading development.
For all teachers and Friends, I applaud your support in exposing free verse reading to young children. Your efforts to improve early perceptions of reading will provide children with a foundation for continued learning comprehension and development.
