If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!

A shaggy-haired, moon-faced girl named Magnolia morphs from smug to seething in Parsley%E2%80%99s debut, a cautionary tale about the risks of bringing an alligator to school. In second-person narration %C3%A0 la If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Magnolia explains how to defuse an unhappy teacher (%E2%80%9CYou%E2%80%99ll tell her that it%E2%80%99s okay and that you know all about alligators. The alligator will be good and quiet and he won%E2%80%99t eat anyone%E2%80%94cross your heart%E2%80%9D), but the gator%E2%80%99s mischievous tendencies test the girl%E2%80%99s patience and threaten to land her in the principal%E2%80%99s office. (Eventually, Magnolia%E2%80%99s name ends up written on the classroom chalkboard with three checkmarks next to it %E2%80%9Cand an underline%E2%80%9D!) Parsley%E2%80%99s digitally created illustrations brim with energy and just-edgy-enough humor (during math, a classmate is blissfully unaware how close he is to becoming the alligator%E2%80%99s next meal), and the well-chosen school-day details in both the artwork and text (%E2%80%9CBy now, of course, you%E2%80%99ll wish you brought a hollow stick or a bird%E2%80%99s nest or some sparkly rocks for show-and-tell%E2%80%9D) deliver a steady stream of laughs. Ages 3%E2%80%936. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (July)