Enormous Crocodile

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With his "secret plans and clever tricks," the Enormous Crocodile desires to lunch not with but on a nice, juicy child. His croc companion, the Notsobig One, is the first to try to talk him out of his scheme, claiming children are no good to eat. "'Tough and chewy!' cried the Enormous Crocodile. 'Nasty and bitter! What awful tommyrot you talk! They are juicy and yummy!'" One jungle critter after another--from Trunky the elephant to Muggle-Wump the monkey to the Roly-Poly Bird--tries to prevent the Enormous Crocodile from carrying out his dastardly deed, but on he waddles toward the village. Unfortunately for him, the animals have a few secret plans and clever tricks up their furry sleeves, too!

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,

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