Crocs!

by David T. Greenberg, Lynn Munsinger

Crocs are wild when riled,
But, usually mild
Milder than a mouse

And they want to assure you
They love you, adore you!
Which is why they've moved into your house

Crocs populate scary movies, fenced-in zoo enclosures, and nightmares. But what if a horde of crocs moved in with you?

A boy in need of a vacation heads to a tropical island, expecting rest and relaxation until a horde of crocodiles descend upon him. In David Greenberg's disgustingly funny version, crocs drink Tabasco sauce, get tangled in dental floss, and turn the house in a swamp. In the dramatic climax, the biggest croc of all reveals himself, and in a surprising twist, crowns our hero the king of the crocs. Fans of Snakes! , Slugs , Bugs! and Skunks! will delight in this newest celebration of a creepy creature.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Poetry, Animals, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED the rich, sophisticated language embedded within this story. Pity you had to leave the city...where would Thailand be, what's a veranda? Research suggests 3-5 words from a story the storyteller would pre-select... this lends itself to rereads as there is so much vocabulary to discuss and analyze.
Illustrations were beautifully created- very well done. Snappily ever after...

[Kate Matheis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a silly book! Young children would love reading about the silly crocs and their adventures with their new crowned Crocodile King. The book is a rhyming story and would be fun for students to read aloud.

[Talea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and silly book that made my daughter and I giggle as I read to her tonight.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tad creepy story line but fun illustrations

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crocs!—what a cute story. A boy is leaving the city where he lives, to take a “much needed vacation”. The city has its downsides, with noise, roaches, and other creepy crawlers, but deserted islands surely do not...wrong! While the young boy tries to enjoy his “vaca” he suddenly realizes he is surrounded by crocodiles! Not to worry—the crocodiles are friendly and loving, maybe even too much so. The boy and his cat continue through the whole book describing what life with crocodiles is like. Crocodiles, like the city, have their up’s and down’s. At the very end, the island itself also is a Croc! They declare the boy as the Croc King! The book was cute, but more importantly it rhymes and describes wonderfully! Some of the words are even written in such a way to show a description of the word itself! I would definitely use this book in my class room to concentrate on those two elements of reading!

[RachelAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

“it really is a pity/That you had to leave the city/ Because of all the horrifying critters…” The main character in this jubilant, rhyming text has retreated to a tropical island to escape the stray cats, rats, cockroaches, pigeons and squirrels of city life. However, A blissful retreat is soon cut short: “You sadly have no notion/All around you, in the ocean Are tons and tons of terrifying CROCS!” The appearance of masses of crocodiles is alarming at first, but they quickly show their affection: “Oh, they’re wild when riled,/But, usually mild/milder than a mouse/ And they want to assure you/they love you, adore you!/ Which is why they’ve moved into your house.” A snazzy story that ends “snappily ever after.”

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Told through rhyme and vivid illustrations, this bizarre picture book didn't do much for me. I thought it had the potential to be really funny but instead it just seems a little random and strange. The boy leaves the city because he is being threatened by animals and moves to an island that happens to be the back of a crocodile where he is being threatened by crocodiles that end up hugging him...see what I mean? Even my kids ended up with strange looks on their faces when I was done. They gave it a "hmmm...what else can we read?" Skip it!

[Tanya Wadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree that it seemed a little random and wierd. The book was written in rhyme. The illustrations were pretty cute. My 5 and 7 year olds liked it better than I did. I guess it is just for fun for kids... tempted to give it 2 stars, but 3 since my kids liked it.


Beehive book award Nominee Children's Literature 2010

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. Rhyming pattern of AAB CCB. Possibly too many words for a baby- depends on your child's attention span but the rhymes are at least good. Talks about a boy escaping the horrible things in the city only to be surrounded by crocs. But things end happily and the crocs are friendly- at least to the boy.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy escapes the city and it's awful critters only to exchange them for an island of crocs. Sometimes the rhymes were ackward, but it was still a fun read. The students voted as follows: Loved it = 275, Liked it = 26, Didn't like it = 18.

[Mekia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read that can be used to teach about verbs. It also has a rhyming pattern throughout the whole book, which can be use to teach rhyming also. I would suggest this book for grades 3-5, because of the language used in the book!

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible! The plot is a jumbled mess of poetry-style writing that only rhymes in the first two sentences, and not rest. It's not even cutesy poems. It's like I saw a croc, it ate a rock, so I went swimming. Ok? My 6 year old son hated this book, and he loves crocodiles! Skip this one.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy takes and dog and cat and leaves the city to get away from all the vermin. He sets up house on a lovely tropic island, only to be confronted with a new kind of pest: crocs!

Wonderful illustrations.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

We got the book from the library. 4 year old that loves crocodiles so the book was an appropriate choice for homeschool. She took the book to look at after we were done because she loved the pictures. We can't wait to read the other books from this author.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a weird book. It looked cute from the cover, but I mostly thought it was strange the whole time I was reading it.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of bizarre but I LOVE the text, very fun to say! This could be a good read-aloud, depending on the size and age of the crowd.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute; for young readers

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

funny, but a bit of a difficult read for preschoolers

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of fun, creativity, and craziness! The pictures have so many fun little things to notice. Very clever.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rhyming account of a boy who moves away from the city to avoid horrible critters. In Thailand though there are some crocodiles that move in.

[Shannon D. Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story {although the vocabulary is a little complex} and the illustrations are great too.

[Elle Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book, great for end of the school year, poetry, rhyme, use in the classroom to teach rhyming words and telling stories through poetry. Beautiful, funny illustrations.

[Patricia Kaniasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second favorite by this author. This book is thoroughly fun! The pictures are amazing and the words flow beautifully. Fun for all ages of kids.

[Lynne Marie]

LOVED the art.