Arrivederci, Crocodile
or See You Later, Alligator
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Can a hungry crocodile trick—and eat!—his way through Italian high society? Pack away your pasta—Crocodile is heading to Italy in this long-awaited sequel to Fred Marcellino’s award-winning I, Crocodile.
First that dastardly Napoleon kidnapped Crocodile from his beloved Egypt, then he dragged him to Paris to be gawked at, and THEN he tried to eat him! Luckily our dear croc escaped, but while Parisian life may be glamorous, life in Paris’s sewers is not. If only Napoleon had taken Crocodile to a more aquatic reptile–friendly city. Perhaps one with an excess of canals and better food…
“NAPOLEON TO TOUR ITALY: FIRST STOP, VENICE”
Surely Napoleon wouldn’t mind if Crocodile hitched a ride out of Paris…
Will our crocodile find his perfect home amongst Italian high-society? Or will he be revealed as an impasta? Pack away your pasta—Crocodile is heading to Italy in this long-awaited sequel to Fred Marcellino’s award-winning I, Crocodile.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Newbery Honoree Marcellino (Puss in Boots) had finished the text of this sequel to I, Crocodile but died before the illustrations were complete. After his death, Puybaret (Suite for Human Nature) was chosen to complete the work. The sequel opens as the Egyptian crocodile stews in a Paris sewer after escaping from Napoleon, who threatened to eat him Puybaret paints the reptile chucking darts at Napoleon's portrait. Napoleon, he reads in the newspaper, is planning a trip to Venice, and the croc, pasta on the mind, decides to follow. In Venice's carnival atmosphere, the crocodile's appearance is taken as an artful costume. He is welcomed and praised ("Extraordinary outfit!... And that appetite! Very crocodile"), his attendance at the grand ball climaxing in a dance sequence with a harlequin-clad partner. When Napoleon appears, prepared to dispatch the croc after plundering the city of its treasure, the Venetians defend their guest. Puybaret shares Marcellino's knack for detailing costumes and architecture spreads have the lively air of a marionette theater set and the crocodile's bon vivant personality and the slapstick ending help create a lively telling. I, Crocodile was originally published in 1999, however, and some of the cultural references in this continuation, such as "Egyptian dances," feel out of step with current conversations about appropriation and exoticism. Ages 4 8.
Customer Reviews
All publishers should aim for this level of wit, storytelling and art.
Only when an author is a Fullbright Scholar, a celebrated book jacket and classic rock album designer, the most talented of painters and illustrators, a succinctly witty writer, a lover of history, and the ultimate connoisseur of the food and culture of Venice… do you get a book as exquisite as this. To top it off, the book comes with its own story within a story. Fred Marcellino was in the process of creating this beautiful book when he died. He had completed the text, page layout, and half the illustrations. It is a testament to the love and respect of his publisher, agent and family to have commissioned Eric Puybaret to pay homage to the artist he so admired by completing this book, gifting one final Marcellino treasure to the world. One only hopes that publishers of children’s literature will from here on aim for this standard.