The Girl Who Wore Snakes

I thought The Girl Who Wore Snakes was a picture book that was a little on the odd side. Again, another on of Angela Johnson’s picture book is illustrated with vibrant, rich oil paintings that make the story intriguing and exciting to read. The story starts off with a girl getting to hold a guest snake at school and being called the “the girl who loves snakes.” She uses her imagination and thinks the snakes' bright colors remind her of “the sun, the earth, and everything in between.” She even goes to the pet shop and buys her on snake, and does everyday activities with it despite people’s ridicule. The story ends with the little black girl going to her aunt’s house to visit, and her aunt accepting the snake into her house. Her aunt even says that the snake reminds her of the earth and sun and everything in between.
I found this picture book a little hard to relate to. I wasn’t quite sure the message. Perhaps that you can use your imagination and love anything you want no matter what anyone says? It’s not very clear for me, so I’m not sure if it would be very clear to an elementary school student. I guess students would enjoy it thought because it involves sort of a fun creature (snake) and I’m sure they would admire the pictures. It’s still a cute, fun book even if it doesn’t make much sense to me.