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Title: Akimbo and the Snakes
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrator: Alexander McCall Smith
Format: Unabridged
Length: 48 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-15-08
Publisher: Recorded Books
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes
Genres: Kids, Ages 5-7
Publisher's Summary:
Ten-year-old Akimbo gets to spend several days with his uncle, Peter, at his east African snake park! His uncle first takes him on a tour of the snake-filled sanctuary. Soon Akimbo learns important facts about snakes and helps his uncle with various tasks, from milking cobra venom to feeding constrictors. But when local livestock begin dropping dead, he and his uncle must capture the offending green mamba: a rare and deadly snake.
Members Reviews:
Akimbo Captures The Mamba
In this highly interesting and fact filled story, Smith tells the story of Akimbo's visit to his Uncle Peter's Snake sanctuary. In the "Snake Park" are many varieties of snake and many are poisonous.
Akimbo goes to visit for 4 weeks. During that time, he is taught about feeding the snakes and about milking the venom from the snakes. The venom is `milked' in order to make anti-venom so that people bitten by the snakes can be saved from death. The story becomes more exciting when Akimbo and his Uncle go after a green mamba, one of the most poisonous and predatory snakes in the world. The green mamba lives in trees and will often drop down upon its prey and bite it. The bite would kill a human being in about 4 minutes.
They go after a report of a green mamba citing way in the bush. They are not sure whether the snake really is a green mamba, but in fact they find that it is. It is Akimbo who is able to spot the snake in a tree. His Uncle is able to get the snake and they trap it with a device for the purpose. Then it is put in a canvas bag. During the trip back to the village, the snake escapes from the bag and comes into the passenger cabin of the truck. Akimbo is alone in the truck when that happens. He uses great ingenuity and stays totally still. His Uncle then comes from the other side and traps the snake again. The snake ends up in the Park.
The book is one of the most intense books in the Akimbo series. It is a highly interesting and educational book for children. The illustrations are well done and give the reader a very good feeling for the experience. The book is recommended for all young readers.
Another Akimbo book
I purchased this for my granddaughter, and I am sure she will enjoy it. I always enjoy everything McCall Smith writes.
Five Stars
My foster daughter is fascinated with snakes, so this story is ideal for her.
Wonderful book, great for kids
Was pleased that Alexander McCall Smith can write such excellent books for kids. I love his adult series book and now having the kids asking for more of his books.
If You Are Afraid of Snakes, Give This Book a Pass
Although this book is described as being for the 4-8 year-old group, it seemed to me more like a 7-12 year-old book that will only appeal to those who don't have nightmares about poisonous snakes.
I was attracted to the book by realizing that the various animal-related stories that Alexander McCall Smith includes in his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books were among my favorite parts of those books. It occurred to me that the Akimbo books might have such stories in them.
Well, not quite . . . but the series is full of Akimbo learning about wild animals, the threats to animals from people, and deals with the problems through Akimbo's brave deeds. Children like to see themselves playing important roles in the world, and Akimbo and the Snakes is very good for appealing to that desire.
Akimbo's uncle runs a snake park.
