Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

Finally read this. Or, finally reread it? I love saying the title as a sort of nonsense murmur. And the book and the illustrations are certainly nonsense... perhaps in a good way? I just don't know... I think this is better appreciated by encountering it first as a child, especially as a city child who doesn't know of any large animal outside of the zoo. Somehow it reminds me a bit of [b:Moon Man|209777|Moon Man|Tomi Ungerer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1223641303l/209777._SX50_.jpg|1399533] but that I do love and reread often.

First sentence: This is the house. The house on East 88th Street. Mr. and Mrs. Primm and their son Joshua live in the house on East 88th Street. So does Lyle. Listen: Swish, swash, splash, swoosh! That's Lyle... Lyle the Crocodile.

Premise/plot: Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is the second book in the picture book series by Bernard Waber. Lyle's adventures and misadventures continue. The main 'story' of this one is the one-sided conflict with their neighbors--Mr. Grump and his cat Loretta. It is a BIG conflict. No matter how much Lyle wants to make friends, well, these two aren't having it. Mr. Grump even manages to have Lyle taken away to the zoo!!!! Will Lyle ever be reunited with his family????

My thoughts: I love and adore this one!!!! I do. show more It is such an AWESOME read. I enjoyed the first book. I did. But this one had me at hello. It was packed with action and adventure. The plot shares some similarities with the recent movie, however, it has some major differences as well. [Perhaps the powers that be thought it was too melodramatic how Lyle is finally able to make friends with the Grumps.]

I highly recommend this one. It's never too late to go back and read picture books you may have missed out on. And of course, if you grew up with Lyle the Crocodile, it may be time to revisit these. show less

I thought I'd peek at other works by Waber because I'm such a big fan of his Nobody is Perfick, but where that book felt fun, different, and real, this one felt laboured and uninventive. There's no reason for Lyle (compared to, say, Paddington), and the resolution comes out of nowhere and is not clever. I don't get it, and it's hard for me to believe they're from the same pen. (Mind you, I love Thackeray's Vanity Fair beyond measure, but none of his other novels have grabbed me.) Yes, I'm not the target market, but I will absolutely enjoy a good kid's book when presented with one.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so show more end up with a lot of 4s). show less

I had previously heard of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile but I had never read it for myself. I enjoyed its simple, silly story and its paired-down but color popping illustrations. I think young children would really enjoy this story and like thinking of what it would be like to have a Crocodile as a pet. I Teachers could even dig a little deeper into the story about how Lyle was judged based on his appearance rather than his character. It's a funny, silly book that I could see myself reading aloud to my students.

Reading Level 3.7

Lyle is a sweet, outgoing, and happy crocodile. His family loves him but Mr. Grumps and his cat seem to just be terrified by him. Lyle proved himself to Mr. Grumps by saving him from the fire at his house. Eventually even Mr. Grumps and Loretta got to see what was so great about Lyle.
This cute book makes crocodiles seem nice!

This is a children's book about a nice crocodile names Lyle who is misjudged by his neighbor Mr. Grumps but still manages to be kind and friendly to everyone. Mr. Grumps doesn't like Lyle because he scares his cat Loretta. So Lyle does his best to stay out of his way but ends up going to the store where Mr. Grumps works and then Mr. Grumps gets mad and makes Lyle go to the zoo. Lyle tries his best to stay positive and get used to his life at the zoo but he has a hard time. Mr. Valenti comes and helps him escape and they make plans to go to Australia but then Lyle saves Mr. Grumps and Loretta from a fire and Mr. Grumps changes his opinion about Lyle and asks him to stay around. This book is great for discussions on judging people before show more you get to know them and how important it is to stay positive and always be kind, even when people are being mean to you. The illustrations in this book are simple ink sketches that are filled in with water colors. The color scheme is mainly black white and green with a few other colors that add variety to the illustrations. They usually have a lot going on in them even though they are simple color-wise so they give the reader a lot to look at. A teacher could use this book if they were going to talk about judging others or staying positive. They could have students write their own story about themselves or an animal who stays positive in a difficult situation. show less

The Lyle series is very much on trend for the time...the art work style, story type, etc. It's a very cute series that aims at both humor and whimsy, and teaching values, again typical of children's literature in this period. My children also love the modern Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile movie.