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English<br />
EDITION<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Scary</strong><br />
<strong>Snakes</strong><br />
Tuula Pere • Catty Flores<br />
W<br />
ickWick
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Scary</strong> <strong>Snakes</strong>
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Scary</strong> <strong>Snakes</strong><br />
Story by Tuula Pere<br />
Illustrations by Catty Flores<br />
Layout by Peter Stone<br />
English translation by Mirka Pohjanrinne<br />
Edited in English by Susan Korman<br />
ISBN 978-952-357-298-0 (Hardcover)<br />
ISBN 978-952-357-299-7 (Sof tcover)<br />
ISBN 978-952-357-300-0 (ePub)<br />
First edition<br />
Copyright © 2019 Wickwick Ltd<br />
Published 2019 by Wickwick Ltd<br />
Helsinki, Finland<br />
Originally published in Finland by Wickwick Ltd in 2019<br />
Finnish “Kauheat käärmeet”, ISBN 978-952-357-301-7 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-952-357-303-1 (ePub)<br />
English “<strong>The</strong> <strong>Scary</strong> <strong>Snakes</strong>”, ISBN 978-952-357-298-0 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-952-357-300-0 (ePub)<br />
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical,<br />
electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher Wickwick Ltd. <strong>The</strong> only exception is brief<br />
quotations in printed articles and reviews. For details and written permissions, contact rights@wickwick.fi.<br />
Wickwick books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use.<br />
Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@wickwick.fi.
English<br />
EDITION<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Scary</strong> <strong>Snakes</strong><br />
Tuula Pere • Catty Flores<br />
W<br />
ickWick<br />
Children’s Books from the Heart<br />
1
Shelly’s family of ten goes for outings in the woods. Everyone can<br />
come along.<br />
Today Dad’s picnic basket is full of treats. Under her arm, Mom carries<br />
a picnic blanket. Shelly walks close to her parents and doesn’t dare to<br />
step away from the path. She’s afraid of snakes.<br />
Her big brother, Adrian, is not worried about anything in the forest. He<br />
bounces back and forth and explores all the interesting spots.<br />
2
3
<strong>The</strong> forest is full of things to see. <strong>The</strong>re are big trees, small bushes,<br />
and rocks covered with moss. Everywhere birds sing and chirp.<br />
Sometimes you may catch a glimpse of a squirrel and even a hare.<br />
“Don’t climb too high!” Mom warns Adrian. She’s standing at the bottom<br />
of a tree when Adrian decides to climb up to pick some pinecones.<br />
“I’ll be careful. I’ll grab only the strong branches,” Adrian says.<br />
4
5
6
“Shelly, come and see this! <strong>The</strong>re’s a bird nest in<br />
the bush,” Adrian exclaims.<br />
But Shelly won’t come. She is standing in<br />
the middle of the path with her eyes tightly<br />
closed. She imagines snakes everywhere.<br />
“What’s wrong? Are you too tired to<br />
walk?” Mom asks, bending down to her.<br />
7
“I want to get out of the forest! <strong>The</strong>re are snakes here.<br />
Even under that rock, there are many snakes!” Shelly explains<br />
with tears in her eyes.<br />
“<strong>Snakes</strong> are easily frightened. <strong>The</strong>y hide when they hear<br />
us coming,” Dad says, trying to reassure her.<br />
“But snakes can bite you, and they’re poisonous! I don’t<br />
want to take another step!” Shelly insists.<br />
8
9
No explanation is good enough. Dad takes Shelly on his<br />
back. Shelly lif ts her legs as high as she can, just in case.<br />
“Help, it’s a snake!” Shelly screams.<br />
“It’s not a snake. It’s a crow! <strong>Snakes</strong> can’t fly!”<br />
Adrian says, laughing.<br />
10
11
It’s time to eat. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
take the treats out of<br />
the basket and put them on<br />
the blanket. Shelly sits on Dad’s<br />
shoulders throughout the meal.<br />
“It would be much easier for you to eat here on<br />
the blanket.”<br />
But Shelly won’t do it. She starts crying.<br />
“What am I going to do when I grow up, and Dad can’t<br />
carry me anymore? I will never be able to go on family<br />
picnics!”<br />
12
13
Af ter the picnic in the forest, the family returns<br />
home, tired.<br />
“It was such a nice day!” Adrian says as he arranges<br />
the pinecones he picked on the table.<br />
“I want to call Grandma!” Shelly announces.<br />
Shelly and Grandma have a long chat on<br />
the phone. <strong>The</strong> rest of the family listens<br />
to their conversation, curious.<br />
“Grandma is so wise! She will come<br />
over tomorrow to help me,” Shelly<br />
says, relieved.<br />
14
15
<strong>The</strong> next day, Shelly and Grandma lock themselves<br />
away upstairs. Grandma has brightly colored<br />
balls of wool yarn, and she spreads them on the floor.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>se are magic yarns. We can use them<br />
to make kind little snakes for you. What<br />
colors would you like to choose<br />
first?”<br />
“Let’s make a blue and red one!”<br />
Shelly says, getting excited.<br />
16
17
Soon Shelly’s room is filled with dif ferent kinds of<br />
yarn snakes. <strong>The</strong>re are small ones, long ones, and<br />
thick ones. <strong>The</strong>re are striped snakes and spotted snakes.<br />
“Now all we need to do is sew on eyes and smiling<br />
mouths,” Grandma says.<br />
Shelly picks out buttons from the sewing box for eyes.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y stitch mouths with yarn.<br />
18
19
When the snakes are finished, Grandma and Shelly<br />
place them in the window, on the table, and the bed.<br />
It’s time for a snake dance. Grandma is so funny! She knows<br />
more silly songs than anyone—even one about hissing<br />
snakes! <strong>The</strong> wild dance ends with all the snakes on the floor<br />
in one big pile.<br />
“I’m not afraid to sleep next to this one,” Shelly says and<br />
strokes a sof t, white snake.<br />
20
21
That weekend Grandma takes Shelly to an amusement<br />
park. Shelly sees booths with games.<br />
22<br />
“Shall we go to the ball-throwing booth? I have a pretty<br />
good arm,” Grandma says.
<strong>The</strong>re is a big sign in front of the booth that reads:<br />
Fabulous Prizes, Giant Stuf fed Toys!<br />
Everybody wants to win the grand prize.<br />
23
Grandma is the champion.<br />
She gets the best score!<br />
“Which prize do you want?” the attendant asks.<br />
“Shelly gets to pick!”<br />
<strong>The</strong> tail of a giant snake sticks out from behind the row of stuf fed toys.<br />
From the other end of the shelf, a pair of shiny pearl eyes looks at Shelly.<br />
“We’ll take that one!”<br />
24
Feeling proud, Shelly takes the long snake and<br />
wraps it around her neck, smiling at Grandma.<br />
“Thanks, Grandma! Now I’m not scared at all!”<br />
25
Shelly is afraid of snakes. One day in the woods, she<br />
thinks she sees them everywhere and is too afraid<br />
to walk. “How will I be able to go on a picnic when I’m<br />
too big for Dad to carry me?” Shelly worries.<br />
Grandma always knows what to do. Colorful snakes of<br />
yarn and fun games help Shelly defeat her fear. And<br />
when Grandma and Shelly visit the amusement park<br />
together, Shelly gets a surprising prize!<br />
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