Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator

The media could not be loaded.  This is a very special book about the true life tale of Claude the albino alligator. I have been fully aware of Claude's inspirational story for years and I have to say that author, Emma Bland smith and illustrator, Jennifer M. Potter have done an extraordinary job of bringing Claude's story to life in this lovely new picture book.For any one who has ever been bullied or became a target because of their differences ... they might find a mutual friend in Claude.The day Claude was hatched from his egg he became an instant target for predators because of his lack of skin pigment. His snow white skin made it impossible to hide from a variety of his predator neighbors. Claude was lucky that a human was present and was able to rescue him when he was hatched because if he had been left in the wild he would have made a tasty meal for one his swamp neighbors.This is a lovely story which follows Claude's story from a swamp on the east coast 3000 miles across the United States to San Francisco's Steinhardt Aquarium in Golden Gate Park where he is not only appreciated for his differences but highly celebrated as well. Claude is now one of San Francisco's biggest stars and to this day he has spread so much joy to thousands of fans around the world who visited him at the aquarium.Claude so deserves his star status...he is just so cute and lovable....And the good thing is if you can't travel to San Francisco to meet him personally....through treading this delightful book you can meet Claude and get to know him and even be his friend. You can even go to Youtube a put his name in the search engine and see some of the videos and other stories about him.I love this book so much that I bought 3 copies of it..one for me...one for my 7 year old niece and one for our local library. My niece loved it and her teacher plans to read the book to her class. There is great material in the back of the book about alligators that can be used to start discussions by parents, teachers or librarians. In fact this awesome book was written by a librarian. Emma Bland Smith is not only a picture book author, she is a librarian in San Francisco. boy those kids that go to her library are super lucky. And you will be Super Lucky if you buy this book...I think it's an instant classic and a real treasure.

We bought this book after visiting the California Academy of Science and Claude peeked our interest. We were fortunate to have a museum worker tell us a little about Claude while we were looking at him. Then we saw the book at the gift shop but didnt end up buying it before we left. My daughter was very excited to get this book from amazon (probably much less $$ than at the museum).

Sometimes it's hard to find a feel-good story about people or animals. This is an upbeat, well-written, children's book about an albino alligator that found a wonderful home at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco some years ago. It's a perfectly written and illustrated story for young children. It could be read as purely entertainment or used as a teaching tool for scientific and social events. I high recommend it.

Love this book ! It's so cute and informational! My daughter desperately wanted a plush white alligator for Christmas so naturally needing to pair it with a book I found this one! Illustrations are lovely. The story has a good pace. Lots of fun facts about the albino alligator and why he is so special. Better yet this guy is still alive and we were able to look it up on youtube. My daughter loved that this was also a true story. A+++

Well told tale by Emma Bland Smith about an albino alligator and the troubles he encountered because he's different. Lovely illustrations by Jennifer M. Potter help children see diversity in aquarium visitors and staff. For any child who feels different, this is a lovingly told story about how being different can be wonderful.

I used to work at The Academy of Science, and Claude was my favorite! I knew a lot about him, but this gave me more answers on how he came to be at the museum. I am starting to write again for children and trying to get some ideas from other children's writers.

My family lives in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and we (adults and grand kids) always make it a point to see and spend some time watching Claude whenever we go to the CA Academy of Science, I bought books for 3 different families plus one for my wife and me and everyone thought the book was great.

LOVE this book. Claude is a real alligator and this children's book tells his story beautifully. Love the facts about Claude in the back of the book with a real photo. Can't wait to read to our kids.