Creole By Stephen Cosgrove

When I was a little girl I collected the books in this series (called Serendipity Books).  They are beautifully illustrated and each teach a lesson.  I have great affection for all the books in this series, but narrowed it down to one for this review.  This is a beautiful and sweet story of a creature who has a heart full of beautiful things to share, but is horribly ugly.  She is shunned by all the other animals who are afraid of her until one day she has a chance encounter with a baby alligator with a stutter.  The alligator is also an outcast and is not afraid of Creole.  He sits with her and gets to hear all the beauty in her heart.  He becomes determined to introduce her to the other creatures.  They come up with a plan that has surprising effects on all of them.  A great story to help kids understand the concept of not judging a book by it's cover.