132,583
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchSnip Snap, look who's back! by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland (view source)
Revision as of 10:07, 11 May 2018
, 10:07, 11 May 2018no edit summary
''Snip Snap, look who’s back!'' works well for those who like a good scare followed by a happy ending. There’s a great build up while the alligator plods steadily through the city into the children’s playground. Then a gentle wind down at the end of the day until everyone has gone ''all the way back home''. Bergman’s rhyming text has a start stop quality that matches the alligator’s moves. Just as you get into the swing of the rhyme she throws in an aside that breaks the flow, but then, off you go again!
Nick Maland rings the changes in mood with atmospheric use of background colour in his lively illustrations. The harsh white and shocking pinks used as a backcloth for scary pages fade to soft lilacs and blues as the children’s worries fade. There is a rather old fashioned and homely side to Maland’s people and buildings. Even the skyscraper landscape on the title page overlooks a little cottage in the foreground with a tree lined road leading out of town. There’s also something of the wonderful [[:Category:Janet Ahlberg|Janet Ahlberg’s]] style of illustration in the tiny figures that ''ran all around'' when the alligator appeared. All of which makes for a cosier read than an alligator on the loose would suggest.
I’m going to be a bit of a pedant now. Sorry. Poring over the pictures is one of the most enjoyable parts of reading this type of tale. For the most part in ''Snip Snap, look who’s back!'' the pictures run riotously across each double page opening. So it’s a shame that the book is so tightly bound that some of the characters are slightly gobbled up into the spine!
