The Enormous Crocodile has enough disguises and tricks to catch plenty of tasty children, but little does he know that the other jungle animals are on to his schemes. Reprint. H. NYT.
Enormous Crocodile ANNOTATION The enormous crocodile devises secret plans and a few clever tricks to secure his lunch only to have them foiled by his neighbors.
FROM THE PUBLISHER The Enormous Crocodile decides that he wants a nice juicy child for lunch, horrifying the other animals in the jungle—his friend, the Notsobig One; Humpy-Rumpy, the hippopotamus; Trunky, the elephant; Muggle-Wump, the monkey; and the Roly-Poly Bird. Despite his secret plans and clever tricks, what the boastful crocodile doesn't know is that the brave jungle animals have plans of their own for him!
In the end, the Enormous Crocodile gets exactly what he deserves.
FROM THE CRITICS Children's Literature - Suzanne Lieurance
This is the story of Enormous Crocodile who is incredibly hungry and incredibly greedy. He tells his friend Notsobig Crocodile, "For my lunch today I would like a nice juicy little child." Then he goes about using "secret plans and clever tricks" to find a child to eat. But the Notsobig One tells him, "You've never done anything clever in your life! You're the stupidest croc on the whole river!" which lets young listeners know right away that this is going to be a silly story, with just enough scariness to make it fun. The Enormous Crocodile encounters other animals in the jungle that, one by one, foil his plans to find a yummy child and eventually teach him a lesson he won't soon forget. Quentin Blake's clever illustrations are a perfect match for Dahl's lyrical text as Enormous Crocodile tries to get close to a child by posing as a coconut tree, a seesaw, and an animal ride on the merry-go-round, among other not-so-clever disguises. 2003 (orig. 1978), Puffin Books, Children's Book Watch - Childrens Book Watch
The Enormous Crocodile decides he'd like a juicy little child for lunch; and his animal friends are horrified. Nonetheless he proceeds on his plans of trickery and deception, eventually bagging just what he deserves. Kids will want parental assistance or good reading skills to enjoy Enormous Crocodile, a zany, fun story of a crocodile's evil plans.
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