The parrot, bumble bee, frog and hummingbird are looking for the crocodile but they don’t know how close he is.

This is a reprint of the 1986 classic which has retained its appeal for young children. The joy of this book is in the simple but clever text. This enables children to join in with both words and the feeling of suspense.

The colourful illustrations are uncomplicated but full of character. The smiles on the faces of the creatures make them look human, in an odd sort of way. Even the crocodile does not look frightening and the end papers look as if they could be wrapping paper for a special present. The last picture, showing the crocodile asking the reader ‘Have YOU seen the parrot, and the dragonfly and the bumble bee and the butterfly and the hummingbird and the frog?’ leaves an unanswered question. What happened to them? Colin West gives a clue in his final words, after the end papers, where he points out that the animals seem to be able to look after themselves. It leaves the question open to debate and could be used with children in school to put forward their idea. They may even want to write to Colin West to ask him. Leaving it open-ended like this is, however, much more interesting as children may look more closely at the pictures for clues. This is probably what he intended as he asks the reader if the little frog had been noticed in the endpapers. I confess I had to look for him!

 This is a super book also for beginner readers as the repetition and large font format help children to recognise words in an enjoyable way. It should be a favourite with both adults and children.

2009-06-22