"May this story help you discover and
celebrate your own light as Reggie did."
"...to every one of you who has felt or been left out or left behind,
or out..."
Those two entries on the dedication
page coupled with author's dedication to family literacy
summarize the author's motivation for writing this lovely children's
book.
Reggie is a large alligator who is picked on by the other alligators in
his pond. His owner, feeling Reggie has become too big and is eating
too much, bundles him up in the dark of night and drops him off in the
town lake. But it is in the Machado Lake that Reggie finds he is not an
outcast after all but a wonderful animal with friends and a future. But
that future is threatened when the townspeople catch a glimpse of him.
Can he and his friends find safety in the limelight or will the new
found fame be too much for them.
The tale is based on the true story of the alligator left in the real
Machado Lake in California. The photograph of the actual lake in the
beginning of the book can help lead parents and their children on a fun
fact finding mission to discover the story of the original Reggie.
