SLEEPY OR NOT, MR CROC?
From the Mr. Croc series
By Jo Lodge , Jo Lodge
Age Range: 3 - 5
Mr. Croc takes a little longer to go to bed than first glances and pulls on the tabs might hint.
Though when glimpsed through a window Mr. Croc seems to be nodding off, in fact, as a turn of the page reveals, he’s actually dancing and playing guitar. Not looking a bit sleepy, he proceeds to lie on the floor to draw, enjoy one bedtime snack under the covers and then rise to raid the fridge for more. Using thick lines and saturated colors à la Lucy Cousins, Lodge depicts a simply drawn croc in PJs who alternately lurks behind flaps and then responds to variations on the titular query with tab-driven wriggles and blinks. Mouth mostly closed or smiling throughout, he cuts a cozy figure—until the final spread, from which he suddenly rears up with jaws (“SNAP! SNAP!”) agape in a “snappy dream.”
A “jump” tale for the diapered set, startling on first go-through but scary-fun on subsequent visits. (Pop-up/picture book. 3-5)