What do you think?
A Snake in the House
When a young boy catches a snake and takes it home, it isn't long before the snake escapes from his glass jar into the strange environment of a human house. A poignant story of a boy's realization that nature deserves respect and freedom. Beautiful paintings depict the plight of the snake and the beauty of the natural world. Full color.
- GenresPicture Books
Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
About the author
Faith McNulty
53 books22 followersFaith McNulty was an American nonfiction author, probably best-known for her 1980 book The Burning Bed. She was born "Faith Corrigan" in New York City, the daughter of a judge. Young Faith attended Barnard College for one year, then attended Rhode Island State College. But she dropped out of college once she got a job as a copy girl at the New York Daily News. She later went to work for Life magazine. She worked for the U.S. Office of War Information in London during World War II.
McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best children's books.
She also frequently wrote children's books on wildlife, including How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World in 1979 and When I Lived with Bats in 1998. Her 1966 book The Whooping Crane: The Bird that Defies Distinction was written for adults.
Her husband, John McNulty, was also a writer for The New Yorker and with Thomas Wolf, Truman Capote, and Gay Talese, a major figure in the development of the literary genre of creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary journalism or literature in fact. After her husband died in 1956, she remarried, to Richard Martin, a set designer and an inventive designer of set props.
The Burning Bed told the true story of Francine Hughes, who set fire to the bedroom in which her husband was sleeping. Hughes defended herself by saying that her husband had been abusing her for 13 years. The jury at her trial ruled that she had been temporarily insane, and she was found not guilty.
"I can remember my father in his nightshirt, digging for worms for the baby robin in the bathroom. That's the kind of household it was; I had woodchucks in the bathroom, cats, squirrels, chipmunks," McNulty once said.
Toward the end of her life, she wrote a weekly column for The Providence Journal on a local animal shelter run by the Animal Welfare League. Her mother had founded the Animal Welfare League in southern Rhode Island. McNulty had long been known for taking in stray animals at her farm.
She suffered a stroke in 2004. She died at her farm in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best children's books.
She also frequently wrote children's books on wildlife, including How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World in 1979 and When I Lived with Bats in 1998. Her 1966 book The Whooping Crane: The Bird that Defies Distinction was written for adults.
Her husband, John McNulty, was also a writer for The New Yorker and with Thomas Wolf, Truman Capote, and Gay Talese, a major figure in the development of the literary genre of creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary journalism or literature in fact. After her husband died in 1956, she remarried, to Richard Martin, a set designer and an inventive designer of set props.
The Burning Bed told the true story of Francine Hughes, who set fire to the bedroom in which her husband was sleeping. Hughes defended herself by saying that her husband had been abusing her for 13 years. The jury at her trial ruled that she had been temporarily insane, and she was found not guilty.
"I can remember my father in his nightshirt, digging for worms for the baby robin in the bathroom. That's the kind of household it was; I had woodchucks in the bathroom, cats, squirrels, chipmunks," McNulty once said.
Toward the end of her life, she wrote a weekly column for The Providence Journal on a local animal shelter run by the Animal Welfare League. Her mother had founded the Animal Welfare League in southern Rhode Island. McNulty had long been known for taking in stray animals at her farm.
She suffered a stroke in 2004. She died at her farm in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 27, 2012
My 5-year old is more enamored of this book than I could have hoped. Simple, flowing prose about a boy who catches a garter snake, then loses the snake in his house, and the snake's and boy's thoughts over the days it takes the snake to be "found" and returned to his home again. I'll definitely look for more picture books by this author. (And I totally wish I had a friend with snakes - this book and a snake-holding would be a *perfect* co-op lesson!)
****
Read this at co-op today, and the kids were rapt, quiet and engrossed. Hands down the most successful read-aloud in co-op all year from me. Who knew?
****
Read this at co-op today, and the kids were rapt, quiet and engrossed. Hands down the most successful read-aloud in co-op all year from me. Who knew?
September 16, 2014
Gorgeous artwork!
April 3, 2018
Definitely not a book I'll use again - the story itself is cute, but the illustrations are dated and there's so much text. This might be a good book for an early reader to work on for silent reading.
August 10, 2023
A boy captures a snake by a pond and puts it in the jar. The snake then escapes from the jar and gets loose in the house. I do not like snakes. This one definitely gave me the heebie jeebies.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews