Mr. Monkey and the Gotcha Bird Book

"Gotcha!" Gotcha Bird grab Monkey by he tail.
"Loose that tail, Gotcha Bird!" Monkey say. "I plenty danger!"
"You no danger to Gotcha Bird. You supper."

Walter Dean Myer's children's story follows Monkey Bird's wit and scheming to escape becoming Gotcha Bird's next meal. Through flattery, Monkey is able to entice other animals to abandon their better instincts, and in doing so serves Gotcha Bird with a few choice meals. Gotcha Bird is not easily satisfied, and he greed eventually leads to his own demise.

The story is a little gruesome, but the language is poetic African vernacular. I would love to use this text to showcase how dialogue and speech patterns play into grammar and fluency. The vernacular of this book is non-standard, and I struggled with it on my first reading. I think it would be a great example to show students how to tackle unfamiliar language and style'it also highlights how good writing and storytelling have voice. It is an excellent text to demonstrate how using speech patterns can add context, variety, and authenticity to students' own writing.