Nancy Hall (1)

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-Two eggs are whisked away in a terrible storm and settle in a bank beside a river. When a baby alligator hatches from the first one, he is anxious to meet his soon-to-be brother or sister. Shortly thereafter, a snowy egret hatches, and the two become Spike (for his spiky alligator back) and Mike (a rhyming name is just as good as a family resemblance). Unable to agree on a location for their home, they finally decide on a two-story tree house at the edge of the water and live there happily ever after. The simple story about belonging communicates that a family is not just a matter of genetic ties, but that very different individuals can live together. Unfortunately, the writing and the illustrations lack the pizzazz that could carry this book beyond a good lesson. The prose is flat, as are the illustrations, which are printed on dull paper stock and executed in a style reminiscent of the "Golden Books." This title can't compete with Janell Cannon's remarkable Stellaluna (Harcourt, 1993), or Holly Keller's Horace (Greenwillow, 1991), an adoption book with a similar theme.
Lynn Cockett, Nutley Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.… (altro)