The illustration on the boards of the hardcover is an interesting contrast to the illustration on the dust jacket, but it makes sense once you read the story.

This book is basically a (wordless) graphic novel for picture book readers -- many of the spreads contain frames. Kids will learn left-to-right, top-to-bottom sequential literacy when reading this one.

At first glance, the book is about an anthropomorphized crocodile living amongst all humans. Look closer, though, and you'll spot other business-like animals. Kids will enjoy searching the pages to find the other anthropomorphized animals. I spotted a bear, penguin, (unidentifiable to me) bird, cheetah, elephant, hippo, giraffe, chimpanzee, ostrich, and lion. As far as I could tell, there's only ever one of any of the animals, which raised a lot of questions for me. Are they like superheroes, magically gifted with the power to act like humans? Do the humans allow (or create?!) only one of each species to be like them? How did these human-like animals come about when we see other animals (primarily birds) not acting like humans? ( )

What a twist at the end of this book!

I love this book, but ... why is everyone so WHITE??? ( )

Illustrated beautifully, with thought provoking images for children to enjoy ( )

This book begins with a crocodile waking up to his alarm and starting his morning routine. Throughout the story, the croc is dress in a suit and takes the bus to work-- the zoo, where he is a professional crocodile! Such a fun ending and a way to make anyone laugh. This book can be used to introduce inferences and predictions. ( )

A crocodile goes about getting ready for his day: gets dressed, has breakfast, catches the bus, etc. His workplace is the zoo, where he changes out of his suit and enters the exhibit - a professional crocodile! Funny.

See also: A Sick Day for Amos McGee ( )