Suzy Snake, Garden Explorer
by Sandra R. James

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Suzy Snake loves her garden home, with its flowers and shrubs and vegetable plants creating a perfect place for her to enjoy the sunshine and eat the many yummy pests that live there, too. Life is almost perfect until a new family moves into the house—a new family with two little girls who love to play outside, laughing and stomping about, completely unaware of Suzy’s existence … until one of them steps on Suzy’s tail! Chaos ensues, with Suzy hissing in shock and slithering away and the children screaming their heads off, terrified that there’s a snake in the garden—though they’re not nearly as terrified of Suzy as Suzy is of them. Luckily, Mom soon comes to the rescue—as moms generally do—and quickly realizes that Suzy is just a harmless garter snake. Now she just has to try to convince her nervous children that having a snake like Suzy in their garden is actually a good thing, and that sharing it with her is a better option than trying to keep it all for themselves. A colourfully entertaining and informative story for children (ages 4–10), Suzy Snake, Garden Explorer teaches young kids about one of nature’s most misunderstood and feared animals, the snake, and the value of both protecting the natural world and sharing it peacefully with its non-human inhabitants … even the creepy ones.

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Having grown up on a tropical island, author and long-time children’s educator Sandra R. James has been exposed to all sorts of unique animals in her life, including many types of snakes, some of which were actually quite dangerous. As such, she is very familiar with the sort of fear that snakes instill in countless people, including her own mother, whose fear of them quickly became her own when Sandra was still quite young. It wasn’t until recently though, after stumbling across a garter snake in her own garden and reacting fearfully, that Sandra saw the value in dispelling such fear with knowledge. So, she set about writing this children’s story, which she hopes will do just that. Suzy Snake, Garden Explorer is Sandra’s second published children’s story. She currently lives with her husband and two kids in Newmarket, Ontario. Also by Sandra R. James: A Wish Fish for Danny (2022)

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Contributors

Author

Sandra R. James

Illustrator

Brandon Koepke