An uplifting story about fitting in and standing up for yourself with Godliness
Alli Gator loves doing tail spins in the water. It’s the coolest thing she knows how to do. But when she finds a group of human children playing on the other side of a fence, she thinks they might be even cooler than tail spins.
The kids go to this thing called school, and Alli might be able to go. She asks her parents, and after some pondering, they agree to send her, saying, “God made you for a special purpose…You go to that school and be kind to every one of those children, even if they are not kind to you.”
Momma and Pappa Gator must know the world pretty well, because the kids pick on Alli for being different from the moment she gets there. It takes pools of tears and a class trip to Rumbly River to turn things around for her. But it also takes God, patience, belief, and standing tall even when it feels like she’s not standing at all.
The best part of this book is that theme right there. The idea that you don’t have to fight—that you shouldn’t fight actually—when you’re getting picked on. God’s purpose for you is to be kind to those bullies. All you can control is being kind, like Jesus did.
Alli’s getting bullied by the other kids for the color of her skin. They’re even drawing art about how much they don’t like her. It’s a pretty hurtful depiction, so you’ll want to be aware that this book comes with big emotions on big-picture topics like prejudice and race in addition to its primary theme of fighting badness with goodness.
The illustrations are bright and friendly and include some beautiful natural scenery as well as big smiling faces. It always helps when you’re illustrating big-mouthed alligators like the Gator family, but much of the vibrancy is due to the clear talent of illustrator Joan Coleman. This book is a pleasure to look at. Your little ones will agree with me, glued to Alli’s pool of tears or the great big splashes the kids make in Rumbly River.
You or your little one might have heard a version of this story before. Alli’s difference is what makes her the hero in the end, ultimately winning over the humans who picked on her. It’s a good lesson about something important, but it does require Alli to do something pretty big and drastic in order to overcome that adversity. It feels like it’s missing a bit more nuance on the topic considering that it’s not really up to the kids being othered to do something to impress their prejudicial peers.
Still, Alli the Alligator is a good-hearted Christian story about fighting bullying with kindness and paving your path with Godliness.
What did you think?