smart gators for Illustration Friday and a recent middle grade read

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: smart. There's nothing smarter than a swamp full of gators, right?

Shona loves math and dreams in equations. Lilly loves to read, especially about the weather (she wants to be a meteorologist, just in case the groundhogs all disappear*). Boris is a master chef, always taking food to the next level. FYOS (For Your Own Safety), stay away from Boris when he's hungry ... Boris is ALWAYS hungry.

* There used to be groundhogs living near the swamp. Boris claims he doesn't know why there are no more groundhogs in the area. Lilly has doubled her efforts to learn about the weather before the next Groundhog Day rolls around. (Hoping the groundhogs are right about an early spring this year!)

Recent Read** I loved - 
Middle Grade Novel: The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste - Are you in the mood for a scary story about spirits that haunt the forest? If so, pick up The Jumbies! Corinne La Mer isn't afraid of anything, not even jumbies. Then she sees yellow eyes that follow her in the forest and a mysterious stranger shows up at her house. Are jumbies real? Are they out to get Corinne and her father? This book will have you flipping pages to find out what happens, but you might not want to read it late at night, especially if you're all alone. Loved this book! Just the right amount of scary, and a really great story.

** Note: Recent = books read the day of, the week before, or within the last year or so, but usually that month. Unless stated otherwise, all books were purchased by me, given to me as gifts by family or friends (not the authors or illustrators), or checked out of the library.