Crocodile Tears

Hit by wanderlust a young crocodile, fed up with the steamy jungle environment, bids farewell to friends and mum before, rucksack on back, she glides off down the river to the docks. Once there, donning a banana disguise, she boards a banana boat (it had to be!) and embarks on a long voyage, destination London. All this we learn through Roger McGough’s delicious, image rich rhyming text and Greg McLeod’s equally delectable scenes of the crocodile’s travels.

Once in the capital city our adventurer is struck by the hustle and bustle of urban life. Life she writes of in a series of ‘Dear Mother’ letters (as promised to her fond parent before she left home). Now the colour palette used in illustrations which always work in perfect harmony with the words, changes from brightly coloured to predominantly grey and the dreary hues we associate with winter in London, while the text becomes increasingly dizzying with the frenzied features of commuters, dense traffic and noise, noise and more noise. Then comes the snow and with it a precipitation from croc’s eyes: time to head for home … Full of humour – both verbal and visual – this is a hugely enjoyable read aloud both for listeners and presenters of the saga.