Python

A day in the life of a blue and yellow diamond python unfurls in the Australian bush. Jackson%E2%80%99s hazy illustrations depict a female python as she wakes in the morning, molts, hunts for food (an unlucky rat), and returns to her nest to guard her eggs. Cheng%E2%80%99s narrative is straightforward but visually descriptive (%E2%80%9CHer scales are dull. Her eye scales are cloudy. Her body has no more room to grow inside her old scaly covering. It%E2%80%99s time to molt%E2%80%9D), and general facts about pythons are tucked elsewhere into the spreads (%E2%80%9CMany pythons have pits just under their lips. These are sensors that help them detect warm-blooded animals%E2%80%9D). While snake enthusiasts are a natural audience, an afterword challenges negative preconceptions, noting that female pythons are %E2%80%9Cwonderful mothers%E2%80%9D and that snakes %E2%80%9Caren%E2%80%99t slimy.%E2%80%9D Ages 5%E2%80%938. (Feb.)