[Allan W. Eckert] pays homage to a serpent of North Carolina [in The King Snake]. Physiological details … are included, but greatest emphasis is accorded the snake's repeated battles for survival. The author's skill is in evoking such interest and compassion in the reader that he actually identifies himself with the serpent. In a complete reversal of roles the reader hopes that the snake will outwit his human captor.
Jane Manthorne, "The Ways of Wildlife," in The Horn Book Magazine (copyright © 1968 by The Horn Book, Inc., Boston), Vol. XLIV, No. 5, October, 1968, p. 578.
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