by Peter Huggins (Author) Lindsey Gardiner (Illustrator)
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Trosclair lives on Bayou Fontaine in Louisiana and loves nothing better than hunting turtles in the swamp with his dog Ollie in his pirogue. But now he’s not allowed to go to the swamp because the rogue alligator Gargantua has moved in, scaring everybody. Pere tells him, “That alligator eat you and Ollie so fast he won’t even stop to burp.” But does Trosclair listen to his pa? Nope, not when the lure of the swamp’s silence, Bee Island and the cypress trees calls him. Sure enough, that sneaky, slimy gator corners Trosclair and Ollie up a tree, telling Trosclair, “Trow down dat dog and I’ll leave you alone.” Now Trosclair is sly; by using the old “tar baby in the briar patch” ploy, he “trows” down a beehive instead, which sends the toothy, grinning Gargantua buzzin’ away. Comical illustrations crackle with Cajun flavor and paneled scenes ripple the action, bringing it into play. Never mind that an alligator doesn’t know what a beehive is, this swampy romp of an impish boy outwitting the gnarly gator is plain ole Cajun fun. (Picture book. 5-8)
Trosclair loves living in Bayou Fontaine in Louisiana. He especially likes gliding in his canoe with his dog, Ollie, hunting turtle eggs in the Bee Island Swamp, although Père has warned him not to go there because the rogue alligator Gargantua is dangerous. Then one day Gargantua tricks Ollie—who tricks the sly monster with a hive of bees. The French Louisiana idiom is a lively part of the book, and the bright, mixed-media double-paged spreads, with lots of collage details, do a great job of showing the stand-off in the swamp between the grinning monster with its sharp teeth and the sly kid and his dog. The tale of the monster sent running is fun, and kids will find the setting a moving part of the action.
— Hazel Rochman