Crocodile Smile

Crocodile Smile Book+CD
10 Songs of the Earth as the Animals See It
by Sarah Weeks
illustrated by Lois Ehlert

I love Lois Ehlert's creations. Leaf Man, Snowballs, Color Zoo, Color Farm, Red Leaf Yellow Leaf, Lots of Spots, Top Cat, Feathers for Lunch are some of our favorites.

 Somehow the more popular Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Fish Eyes, Market Day, Planting a Rainbow and such didn't resonate with Ana or Og.

All that is to say that when I came across this book in the library, the illustrations caught my attention and when I saw that it was by Lois Ehlert, I immediately brought it home. The gorgeous, bright double-page collages are a treat to behold.

There are 10 poems by Sarah Weeks, some focusing on a particular animal like Panda,Tiger, Komodo Dragon, Great Egret, Galapagos Tortoise, Crocodile, as they see it; while a few others are about a habitat like the jungle where the animals share the dwelling; and finally our Earth where we all co-exist.

Some of the poems are quite catchy, a couple are a bit bizarre, especially for the kids, but all in all a beautiful reading experience.

For example, Pretty Tree is a very cute poem about Pandas and how their habitat is being taken over by humans but ends with the Panda sweetly inviting the reader to join him up on the pretty tree to enjoy a bite of bamboo.

Allow me to introduce myself
You probably don't know me
See, I don't get out that much
I just sit in my pretty tree
Eating the tasty bamboo...


...Climb up and sit with me
Here in my pretty tree
There's room for us both you'll see
Here in my pretty tree.

However, the title poem Crocodile Smile was about the crocodile's sweetheart leaving her and how she is blue and yet she seems to smile as she cannot help it; it was rather awkward to read it to the 4 yo, but that's just me.

Don't be fooled by that crocodile smile.


What have I got to be happy about?
My sweetheart disappeared
And now I'm down and out
He left me high and dry in this swampy place
With nothing but the smile on my face.

The CD that comes with it has the poems set to music, but the tunes were not catchy and the lyrics were rather slurred. After several reads of the book first, knowing what to expect, Oggie started enjoying the CD at bedtime.

My favorite poem in this collection is Take It Slow (Galapagos Tortoise), and Og's seems to be I'm Not A Hat (Great Egret) with Pretty Tree (Panda) and Pad,Pad,Pad (Tiger) a close second.

But for the Crocodile Smile, which Oggie didn't seem to mind, the book is quite a treat to read aloud with repetitive lines and sing-song verses all about animals.

[excerpt at books.google.com]

[cover image source: amazon.com]