Duckworth the Difficult Child by Michael Sussman illustrated by Júlia Sardà Review Copy from Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Duckworth's parents just happen to be reading a book called Dealing with Your Difficult Child when he comes downstairs to tell them that a snake has come out of his closet. While it seems like the pair already have a pretty good handle on dealing with Duckworth (each parent gives him the "hand of silence" when he interrupts their reading) they follow the instructions in the book and send him off to do chores so that he will "forget such nonsense."
His chores complete, Duckworth returns to his room to practice his recorder and is promptly eaten by the enormous cobra. Communicating in a small voice from inside the snake, Duckworth's parents insist he is wearing a snake costume and, following the instructions in their book, they ignore him so that his fantasies will go away. Things escalate as the recalcitrant Duckworth remains in the snake…
Duckworth's parents just happen to be reading a book called Dealing with Your Difficult Child when he comes downstairs to tell them that a snake has come out of his closet. While it seems like the pair already have a pretty good handle on dealing with Duckworth (each parent gives him the "hand of silence" when he interrupts their reading) they follow the instructions in the book and send him off to do chores so that he will "forget such nonsense."
His chores complete, Duckworth returns to his room to practice his recorder and is promptly eaten by the enormous cobra. Communicating in a small voice from inside the snake, Duckworth's parents insist he is wearing a snake costume and, following the instructions in their book, they ignore him so that his fantasies will go away. Things escalate as the recalcitrant Duckworth remains in the snake…
