I, Crocodile

Rating:
Summary: Meet a Croc that Rocks!
Review: Fred Marcellino and Michael DiCapua invite you on an outlandish adventure of a crocodile in Paris. How you might ask does our vain and over-eatting friend go from the muddy riverbanks of the Nile to end up in the grand city of Paris, becoming one of the city's main attractions? He gets a little help from Napoleon of all people. But like many new attractions, our friend soon becomes old news and possibly dinner! What happens next? Well, you will just have to read and find out. Fred Marcellino does an excellent job of bringing this humorous story to life with his extraodinary art work. While I did like the book a lot, I found that some of the text might be a little unclear to younger readers. But overall, I give this story two scaly thumbs up.

Rating:
Summary: Meet a Croc that Rocks!
Review: Fred Marcellino and Michael DiCapua invite you on an outlandish adventure of a crocodile in Paris. How you might ask does our vain and over-eatting friend go from the muddy riverbanks of the Nile to end up in the grand city of Paris, becoming one of the city's main attractions? He gets a little help from Napoleon of all people. But like many new attractions, our friend soon becomes old news and possibly dinner! What happens next? Well, you will just have to read and find out. Fred Marcellino does an excellent job of bringing this humorous story to life with his extraodinary art work. While I did like the book a lot, I found that some of the text might be a little unclear to younger readers. But overall, I give this story two scaly thumbs up.

Rating:
Summary: Best Children's Books
Review: Fred Marcellino's "I, Crocodile" is the wonderful tale of a crocodile who happens to be minding his own business in Egypt when Napoleon comes bustling through. Determined to take anything back to France that will emphasize his strength, he snaps up the croc and deposits him in a cage in gay Paree! The crocodile, discomfited at first, soon finds that Parisian life agrees with him handsomely. He's the toast of the social set, who all begin doing crocodile-inspired dances. But when the glare of newfound fame wears off and when the local chefs begin to eye him as inspiration for a crocodile-filled pie, our croc hero turns the tables on the social set, with the consequences you might expect.

Fred Marcellino invests his crocodile with all sorts of endearing qualities. What an expressive face--and such facile body language! He is, by turns, shy, enraged, lazy, embarrassed, and more. This is the most emotionally available crocodile you'll ever see in a children's book. And the ending is perfectly in keeping with the crocodile's basic nature. Lots of fun for children, and sophisticated enough to keep the parents equally entertained.

Rating:
Summary: A real treat for children AND parents alike
Review: Fred Marcellino's "I, Crocodile" is the wonderful tale of a crocodile who happens to be minding his own business in Egypt when Napoleon comes bustling through. Determined to take anything back to France that will emphasize his strength, he snaps up the croc and deposits him in a cage in gay Paree! The crocodile, discomfited at first, soon finds that Parisian life agrees with him handsomely. He's the toast of the social set, who all begin doing crocodile-inspired dances. But when the glare of newfound fame wears off and when the local chefs begin to eye him as inspiration for a crocodile-filled pie, our croc hero turns the tables on the social set, with the consequences you might expect.

Fred Marcellino invests his crocodile with all sorts of endearing qualities. What an expressive face--and such facile body language! He is, by turns, shy, enraged, lazy, embarrassed, and more. This is the most emotionally available crocodile you'll ever see in a children's book. And the ending is perfectly in keeping with the crocodile's basic nature. Lots of fun for children, and sophisticated enough to keep the parents equally entertained.

Rating:
Summary: Best Children's Books
Review: I am an Elementary School library teacher and book lover. I teach library and computer skills to little kids. "I Crocodile" ranks with the greatest of the great. I'm ordering 2 copies. One is for a 3rd grader as a reward for reading books during our Book-A-Thon. The other one is a gift for my brother, a poet, who has a ph.D. in creative writing and literature. This is a book which easily will bring chortles and laughs from both.

Rating:
Summary: Aye, Crocodile
Review: Incoming rave review.

Most children's classics have either a terrific story, or a terrific main character, or terrific illustrations. I, Crocodile has all three.

The story is, as they say, high-concept. (Disney and Dreamworks ought to consider it for animation.) See, the dreamy life of this crocodile on the banks of the Nile is rudely interrupted by Napoleon, who....well, you have to read the book. It has huge entertainment value for kids, and wit that will motivate an adult to read it aloud enthusiastically even on the thirty-seventh time around. (There will be a thirty-seventh time.)

As for the beast himself, he's the greatest crocodile since Lewis Carroll's. Even bigger. (Of his own reptile, Carroll wrote, "How doth the little crocodile...." Marcellino's has a heartier appetite.)

The illustrations are spectacular. They're rich with surprise, color, and beauty. They reach the level of art without a trace of self-consciousness.

I, Crocodile is full of life. It whisks you along so absorbingly, you're hardly conscious of turning the pages. You may already know that Fred Marcellino has, for years, been one of the preeminent children's illustrators. He's now, in a single stroke, one of the preeminent children's authors as well.

So:

If there's a child in your life, I, Crocodile is a must-have book. If there's no child in your life, you might want to order it anyway. The simulated crocodile-skin cover, alone, is worth the price of admission.

Rating:
Summary: Instant Classic
Review: This is one of the all-time great children's stories. Seriously. As for the artwork, it actually may surpass Marcellino's previous Caldecott-honored standards. Is "I, Crocodile" a page turner? Is chocolate pudding a kid magnet? The story's hilarious rogue crocodile is more memorable than all the latest you-know-which cartoon characters put together. The plot ranges cinematically from the banks of the Nile to the banks of the Paris sewers... with a ton of razzle-dazzle in between. Appearing in an ingenious supporting role is pudgy, comically self-important Napoleon, himself. In addition to the crocodile's various meals, Marcellino offers food for thought, yet never with a heavy hand and always with a perfect-pitch instinct for sheer entertainment. Getting "I, Crocodile" for your kids to enjoy is the perfect excuse to get it for your own enjoyment. It's easily the children's book of the year. And... it's Y2K-compliant.

Rating:
Summary: A kids book?
Review: This story seem to have been written for an older age group. It was just an ok book with great drawings.

Rating:
Summary: Delightfully refreshing!
Review: What a hilarious book! I just love the pictures! And the story line: what a refreshing change from the usual goodie-two-shoe kiddie stuff!