One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree

One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree by Daniel Bernstrom, pictures by Brendan Wenzel (2016) #ownvoices 

This is one of those books that just delights in words, sounds, and vocabulary. A boy strolls along, distracted by his pinwheel and is gobbled by a snake under the eponymous branches of the eucalyptus tree. The boy keeps convincing the snake that there’s room for the snake to keep eating—his belly isn’t full yet. Of course, eventually the snake reaches his limit, and, with an enormous belch, all the eaten creatures are freed. The snake slithers off with a tummy-ache, and the boy reclines happily in the shade of the tree—but a crocodile peeks around, hinting at more adventures. I love this one, and I think it’s a delight to read out loud, but do recommend practicing it because there are a couple of places where the rhymes take an unexpected rhythm.

Themes/topics: Jungle, snakes, trees, tricksters, flies, eating

Sample text from three spreads:

One day in the leaves of the eucalyptus tree hung a scare in the air where no eye could see, when along skipped a boy with a whirly-twirly toy, to the shade of the eucalyptus, eucalyptus tree.

Down, down slid the snake from the leaves of the tree and gobbled up the boy with his whirly-twirly toy, one day in the eucalyptus eucalyptus tree.

“I’ll bet,” said the boy, in the belly dark and deep, “that you’re still very hungry and there’s more that you can eat.”

“Do you think,” said the snake to the boy with the toy, “That there’s room for something yummy with you inside my tummy?”