Cynthia Rylant's Alligator Boy tells the story of a young boy decides that he wants to be an alligator, after visiting a natural history museum with his class. After discussing this with his aunt, she sends him an alligator head and tail, in which the young boy wears to school as Rylant states on the book covers endpapers and first lines of the story, "A boy was tired of being a boy. He hoped to be somebody new." Parents of the alligator boy are mixed in response, as he dad goes along with his son's new disguise and his mother is curious and worried about her son's imaginative spirit. Once at school, he even is able to scare off a bully, spell with his long green snout, and enjoyed life to its fullest extent.
Rylant's use of a rhyming scheme in Alligator Boy add to the rhythm and flow in celebrating this young boy's creative imagination. The text is simple, yet the illustrations by Diane Goode are eye catching and play up the words stated page after page. According to a review by Children's Literature, "Goode requires only the minimum of props to produce a delightfully imaginative sequence of drawings "in line" with watercolors and gouache providing the particulars that the very succinct rhymes ignore." There was only one time in which I felt that Rylant's words did not flow as in previous lines, but were somewhat awkward in composition: "She asked a good doctor to come and to see/this boy who could not a boy now be."
What I found most interesting and confirming about this book was its ending - the alligator boy did not turn back into the boy seen before he inherited his green head and tail, but the final picture and text displayed the certainty of "what a good life for an alligator boy" as he sits comfortably on his mother's lap. I believe that when children and adults read this story, they will embrace it for Rylant's witty humor and powerful message of self-expression. I had a lot of fun watching the boys transformation into an alligator and joyfully living his life with a smile on his face moment after moment, while rescuing a puppy from a dog catcher and fending off a school bully.
I believe that Rylant's message in this story is for readers is to do what makes you happy, and do not worry about what others think of you. Even as an adult, the young alligator boy's creative spirit and confidence inspires me to evaluate myself in times when I am self-conscious. Rylant and Goode's written and illustratives styles complemented each other well in this story as readers of all ages will enjoy watching the boy be an alligator-boy, while imagining themselves in his place. I also believe that the story firmly opposes Kermit the Frog's famous opinion, "It's not easy being green." Alligator Boy shows readers that it is okay to be whatever you want to be and to never let others let you think otherwise.
Very profound interpretation of Alligator Boy! I've read this book once, but definitely appreciated reading your entry to refresh my memory. I, too, am glad that the illustration at the end shows the young boy still with the alligator tail. Although he is, and will remain, a young boy, his imagination will always take him to a happy place. Perhaps the next day he will be curious and imagine himself as a giraffe. But it is the freedom that imagination allows us. Take risks, challenge your thoughts and experiences, and stay true to yourself.
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