LOVABLE LYLE

Lyle the crocodile, loved by one and all, is dismayed to discover that he has an enemy: who can be sending those poison pen notes? ""Hoping somewhere, somehow, his 'enemy' would see what a nice crocodile he really was,"" he exhausts himself trying to be amusing and kind and helpful--but to no avail. Then Clover Sue Hipple; who keeps popping up, is caught slipping a note under the door and Mrs. Primm pries out her reason: her friends run off to play with Lyle and she's ""not allowed to play with crocodiles."" What has been rueful and funny (vide Lyle looking out the window and thinking ""Somebody out there hates me"") becomes at this point, a tract on tolerance (call him Charley). Mrs. Primm's attempt to convince Mrs. Hipple that Lyle is harmless fails until, one day at the beach, Lyle saves Clover from drowning and, in becoming a hero, becomes a desirable companion. Children who love Lyle for himself will rise in indignation, so will adults who've had enough of minding manners and making nice, to make friends.