Verdi

Young Verdi doesnt want to grow up big and green. He likes his bright yellow skin and sporty stripes. Besides, all the green snakes he meets are lazy, boring, and rude. When Verdi finds a pale green stripe stretching along his whole body, he tries every trick he can think of to get rid of it--and ends up in a heap of trouble. Despite his efforts, Verdi turns green, but to his delight, he discovers that being green doesnt mean he has to stop being himself. Cannon is on a roll, her gift for creating memorable characters and scenes on glorious display in this tale of a feisty python hatchling.--Publishers Weekly

Janell Cannon is the award-winning author and illustrator of Trupp: A Fuzzhead Tale (1995) and Stellaluna (1993), both published by Harcourt. Before becoming a full-time creator of books for children, she worked for many years in the public library system designing and producing summer reading programs. Born and raised in Minnesota, Janell Cannon now lives in Southern California with her parrot and two cats.