This book teaches students how being selfish gets you nowhere. The crocodile was so mean to the other animals nobody wanted to help him, but the mouse ended up being nice enough to help the crocodile get the bad tooth out of his mouth. The crocodile began to change his attitude and let all the animals bathe and drink in the river.

Every morning a very large and very snappy crocodile shouts this selfish message: 'Stay away from my river! It's MY river! If you come in my river, I'll eat you all!' The animals in the forest don't know what to do. They are frightened of the crocodile. Even the fish, tadpoles, frogs, crabs and crayfish stay out of the water. Until one day, the creatures are woken by a loud groaning sound which turns out to be the selfish crocodile in a lot of pain, and the smallest of them all, a little mouse, finds a way to solve their snappy dilemma! Astoundingly bright, bold illustrations bring to life all the wonderful creatures of the forest in a rainbow of colours. -- GoodReads
A selfish crocodile who will not share the river with the other jungle animals changes his mind after receiving help from a brave mouse. -- Rutherford Public Library

The selfish crocodile didn't want anyone else to drink or bath from the river so one day he shouted to the creatures of the forest to stay away from the river because it was his. Nobody came near the river; they were scared of the crocodile. One morning the forest was awakened by a loud groaning sound. The crocodile was crying in pain and the creatures watched him in pain. Some thought he might die and then they could finally use the river again and some felt sorry for the crocodile. Then a mouse ran to help the crocodile while all the creatures watched in fear for the mouse. The mouse had pulled the crocodile's tooth out which was causing the crocodile tooth pain. The crocodile gave the mouse a nut to thank him and the two became the best of friends. One day the crocodile finally sent all the animals an invitation to come drink and bathe from the river and the river soon belonged to everyone once again.

This story was really cute. I really liked how the little mouse was the only one brave enough to help the crocodile and how the mouse's kindness changed the crocodile into a better crocodile. This story reminds me a little bit of the Lion and the Mouse fable, but with a slightly different message. Overall, this was a great story to teach children kindness and sharing. ( )

The selfish crocodile shows what can happen if you are selfish and shows what can happen if you are not selfish. The selfish part of the crocodile shows that people don't want to be friends with him. The unselfish part of the crocodile shows that people do want to be friends with him. ( )

Lesson: How Do I Get Along with Others?