Crictor (by Tomi Ungerer)

Much of the pleasure of this book has to do with composure. Crictor's cool, as though it is standard procedure for a snake to be posted to a French village from Africa. And Madame Bodot is, for the most part (after some mild flapping when she opens the package Crictor comes in) unflappably self-possessed as she introduces the boa into her daily routine. Aplomb -- even the word sounds French.

Tomi Ungerer's artwork has that beguiling and otherworldly pen-and-ink charm reminiscent of Shel Silverstein and Edward Gorey. It is a world of creaky, economical lines, slightly off true, just like how you wanted your grandmother's house to be. And you can't help but grin that it is a snake that lies behind the learning of those letters and numbers, a snake on the page being worth any number in the grass.