Danny Diamondback by Barry E. Jackson

This is another great snake book that has a twist and some creativity. For my child study, the little boy I am working with loves to learn about snakes and is beginning to write a story from a snake's point of view. I brought him this book, in order to see a how he could go about writing his story. The pictures are great because they take up the entire page and look very realistic, even though this is a make-believe story.
The snake does not understand why no one will be his friend and is very sad and lonely. The only one that will be friends with him a little prairie dog that cannot find his glasses to be able to see that he is a snake. He welcomes him and gets the other prairie dogs to like him. They form a band and the snake makes a maracas sound with his tail. He eventually gets banned from the prairie dogs, but is able to return when he saves them from being eaten by coyotes. The prairie dogs learned to love him and he became a member of their family.
This story is very imaginative and fun for little kids. The little boy that I work with decided to use some ideas from it to make a story about a snake who saves the humans from some bat-coyotes. This is a great alternative to some of the more boring non-fiction books about snakes. I also like that there were a few Spanish words throughout the book. This brings in a different culture and teaches a child a few simple new words.