Don't Grab a Snake!
by Mary Colain
BEST CONVERSATION-STARTER FOR FAMILIES BOOKY
The judge's reasoning
This is a safety picture book that actually functions as a safety picture book — which is rarer than it sounds. Colain doesn't just say 'snakes are scary, stay away'; she builds a genuine informational arc from a snake's-eye view: where snakes live (holes, trees, rocks, water, even a basement they've gotten 'confused' into), why they bite (mostly when 'a person steps on us, or grabs us'), and — crucially — what to actually do if a bite happens. The step-by-step response ('Gently clean and loosely wrap the bite... A grown-up should call the doctor right away... you should stay still') is exactly the kind of specific, actionable content that makes a nonfiction picture book earn its shelf space rather than just decorate it.
The decision to append a sourced 'For Grown-ups' section pulled from CDC/NIOSH guidance is a smart, unusual move for the format — it signals the author did her homework and trusts the adult reader to want real first-aid information, not just reassurance. Pairing 'Do not apply a tourniquet' with 'Please don't grab a snake!' in the same book is a genuinely useful two-audience design.
The repeated refrain — 'Don't grab a snake!' — does real work here too, reinforcing the single behavioral takeaway a young reader needs to walk away with, the way 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' repeats its counting structure. The empathy angle ('People are so much bigger than us. We just want to get away and be safe') is a nice reframe, turning fear into understanding without softening the actual danger. This book knows exactly who it's for and what it wants that reader to do differently — and it says so plainly, twice a page if it has to.
Judged by Brooke Hayes — Reader-at-Large · Cross-Genre · Emerging Voices
"Every book is the only book for somebody."
Supporting passages
"Gently clean and loosely wrap the bite. Try to get a picture of the snake too, or at least try to remember what it looked like."
Concrete, age-appropriate first-aid guidance that gives the book real practical value beyond a simple warning.
"If you grab us, we get scared and might bite! So please don't grab a snake!"
The repeated refrain gives young readers a clear, memorable behavioral takeaway, which is the job of this kind of safety picture book.
"People are so much bigger than us. We just want to get away and be safe."
Reframes snake behavior through empathy rather than fear, which does more to change a child's instinct than a warning alone.
Per-axis rubric scores
Every Booky-winning book is scored across all ten craft axes. The award is given on the top axis (or top two for premium tiers).
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