Catch That Crocodile!

by Anushka Ravishankar

Book Overview

The bold, hilarious, and humane verse-tale of a rampant reptile and his hapless assailants.Who will catch that crocodile that's terrifying everyone in town? 'Probin policeman with his stick?' 'Can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 8186211632
• ISBN13: 9788186211632
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Tara Books
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 6.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.4" x 9.7"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

You'll certainly smile at THIS crocodile

I have this rant I sometimes launch into where I complain about how few children's books come from other countries. It's one of my favorites. A golden oldie, if you will. Old lady mode hits me hard and I start talking about these whippersnapper publishers that haven't the decency to bring us one teeny tiny picture book from India, say, per year. Would that be so hard? India? But I forget about authors like Anushka Ravishankar and illustrators like Pulak Biswas. A mere four years ago Farrar, Straus & Giroux brought out the duo's visually and audibly stimulating ALA Notable title Tiger on a Tree. With its humor, its particular style, and its fun bouncy rhymes it was one of my favorite books of that year. Then I didn't see anything else come out of India and I forgot about the creators pretty quickly. Therefore, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I discovered that Tara Publishing has brought a "Tiger on a Tree" follow-up to our shores this year in the form of the humorous "Catch That Crocodile!" Originally published in 1999 in India, "Crocodile" follows a group of humans dealing with something supposedly fearsome in a foolish manner. Falguni Fruitseller was just minding her own business, selling her wares, when in the course of touting her papayas she became the first to discover the crocodile. It seems odd to see it in the village considering how far the river is. And soon the real question becomes, how do they get rid of it? Probin Policeman is the first to try his hand, thwapping down a stick (promptly snapped by the crocodile). Doctor Dutta tries injecting the animal with a syringe (promptly redirected by the crocodile). Bhayanak Sing tries attacking with great strength and courage (promptly scared off by the crocodile). And finally, the little fish seller Meena that everyone has overlooked places fish along the ground... promptly eaten by the crocodile and off it goes into the river. Part of what I love about Pulak Biswas's art is just how good-natured it all is. His style is reprinted here on a creamy golden paper that looks more like parchment than anything else. Against this background come the thick blacks of his paints with a single jolt of color. In "Tiger on a Tree" it was orange. Here it is green. From the circles on the crocodile's back to the policeman's leg warmers, the doctor's suit (giving him a kind of Babar the King look), and the dress of little Meena the fish seller. Biswas's style has been called "folk-art" but I don't know if that's quite how I'd describe it. Certainly I can't identify his methods. Is he using brushes or woodcuts or engravings or what? However he chooses to do it, the result is that most of the humans are constantly fleeing, pushing, staring, gaping, running, and leaping while the crocodile, with his big googly eyes and long snout, sits there taking it all in. I love the energy in this book and the sheer delight Biswas seems to take in telling a good story from a visual

The starkly frantic, two-color illustrations add an enthusiastic touch

Created by the award-winning children's book team Anushka Ravishankar and Pulak Biswas, Catch that Crocodile! is a rhyming tale of a crocodile on the loose and a village up in arms about it. But does the crocodile really have to be caught? Finally, a level-headed young girl calms down the villagers and solves the problem by setting out a trail of fish for the crocodile to follow to the river. The starkly frantic, two-color illustrations add an enthusiastic touch to this delightful picturebook steeped in East Indian culture.