(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lynne Cravath. Crowboy deals with his first-day-of-school jitters by turning himself into a fearsome rattler. The text, in which Crowboy's family and classmates indicate that they don't see a snake before them, and the chalky illustrations, in which Crowboy looks into a mirror and sees a snake, give readers just enough clues to realize that the transformation is all in the boy's head.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. This original tale about a boy repaid for his kindness to a rattlesnake and a scorpion employs familiar folkloric motifs. Patterned after American Indian art, the illustrations feature the deep earth tones of the Southwestern desert. The narrative tone is succinct and direct, with touches of humor and occasional rhetorical flourishes, all of which make this a good candidate for the storyteller's repertoire.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 1999