I Saw Anaconda: A Cumulative Lift-the-Flap Story

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2018

Review

A cumulutive book based on the "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" concept. A boy watches an anaconda swallow one animal after another from a tick to a gator before finally being swallowed himself. But will the anaconda be sick?...(spoiler alert...yes) The illustrations are bold and bright and the book includes flaps to lift and pop-up features like a coiled snake showing the contents of her crowded stomach. All of the animals could be found in South America near a hungry anaconda and the illustrator has placed the next animal on the menu in the picture of the one currently being eaten, so the book is great for use as a predictive tool. A fun read-aloud but a book that will probably not hold up to repeated circulations.

Overall Book Score: good