Book Club: Alberto The Dancing Alligator

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Alberto the Dancing Alligator written by Richard Waring and illustrated by Holly Swain is the tale of Alberto and his owner, Tina. A little girl is a given a "peculiar-looking egg by her Uncle Ezra" that hatches into her pet and dancing partner, Alberto. The title is a bit misleading because the majority of the book details Alberto’s journey through the sewers and in and out of various bathrooms to find Tina.  

Vocabulary 

You can introduce or review the following words with you little one(s):

Alligator

Tango

Record

Slipped

Activities 

In the storybook, count the bathrooms, people calling the police, and the police with your children.  There are a total of 12.

Practice counting to 1000 by hundreds with your children. 

Explore the tango with your children. Listen to different examples of the music. 

Discuss pet ownership and why alligators don’t make good pets. For older children, you can actually research the laws regarding ownership of reptiles. Many locations (from state to city) vary upon the regulations regarding reptiles (snakes, lizards, crocodilians, etc.).

Visit your local zoo to see alligators in person.

Read more books about alligators!

Watch videos about alligators on YouTube.

Create your own Alligator! 

A is for Alligator Craft – A simple craft to review the letter A and practice scissor skills!

Paint your own alligator craft. – The chance to break out paints, glue, and more to create a fun alligator puppet.

Fans of alligators and want to learn more? What about the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? Or do you want to a lesson on the letter A? A Mom's Quest to Teach has lots of posts to help you in your homeschooling quest! 

Part of the Homeschool Collection Posts 

Crafts: Alligator

As a former zoo educator, I love being able to share my knowledge of animals with my children.  As we were studying the letter A, it was the perfect time to discuss alligators (and crocodiles).

In this craft, we created our own alligator.

Materials 

• toilet paper rolls
• paper towel rolls 
• green and brown paint
• paintbrushes
• googly eyes
• glue 
• scissors
• green and white construction paper 
• markers 
• Popsicle sticks 
• paper fasteners 
• sequins 
• tape 

Steps 

1. Gather materials. (Don't forget glue and tape and any last minute things like sequins.)

2. Paint the toilet paper and paper towel rolls.  Paint or color the tail.

3. After the paint has dried, attach your pieces. I used a hole punch and paper fasteners to attach the rolls together.  If you have a long, thing stapler, you could attack them that way.

4. Glue or tape on the legs to the Popsicle sticks.

5. Glue the eyes and the teeth to the head.

6. Add last minute color touches with the markers to create scales. Color and attach the tale. If you have sequins, you can add those for scales, too.

7.  Attach the legs.  I taped them to the inside and the outside of the alligator.  If you have more time, you can glue them.

8. Play with your alligators.

For a more realistic look, keep the top of the alligator a greenish-black color and the bottom a cream-white color.  This coloration helps the alligators camouflage themselves from birds above them in the sky, because they blend in with the water, and from fish below by blending in with the sky.

Here you can see how the dark coloration of the top of the alligator lets them blend in with the swampy water.

Other Alligator Resources and Activities

Books

Zack's Alligator by Shirley Mozelle with pictures by James Watt
Zack's Alligator Goes to School by Shirley Mozelle with pictures by James Watt
What's the Difference Between an Alligator and a Crocodile? by Lisa Bullard with illustrations by Bandelin-Dacey
Alberto the Dancing Alligator by Richard Waring with illustrations by Holly Swain

Crafts 

A is for Alligator 

Clay Play 

Materials for clay play like toy alligators, pipe cleaners, rocks, etc.