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I purchased this book for my grandson who will be 5 years old in November. He adored the book and we have read it 3 or 4 times already. The artwork was outstanding with typical Roald Dahl language that children find endearing. My son was a huge Roald Dahl fan, and still is, so I purchased the book sight unseen and we have not been disappointed.
We all know Dahl has a bit of a mean streak, and his humor is sometimes pointed even if children don't always get it. But this illustrated edition modulates those Dahl tendencies with delightfully comic illustrations, which go a long way to putting in context Dahl's dialogue and subject matter. My eight-old and I read this over a few days, and we both enjoyed every minute.
What's not to like. We loved this book. My seven year thought it was super. An enourmous crocodile who wants to eat a juicy little child and is then thwarted by the other animals in the jungle. It was hilarious the tricks the crocodile tried to get a child to eat and my son and I laughed when, time and again, he failed.
It just seemed a little, I don't know, mean or cruel. I love Roald Dahl so I was very pleased to find this book. And I do get Roald Dahl, really I do. I read it to my seven-year-old since it is a picture book. He didn't love it and neither did I. I just didn't like this one so much. I think the Minpins is a much better choice for a grade-school aged child picture book from Dahl.
Dahl's "The Enormous Crocdile" is a favourite of our 3.5 and 6.5 year olds, but it is the whimsical dead-on illustrations of Quentin Blake that make this edition outstanding.The story follows the course of an enormous crocodile who wants to eat a little child for lunch, and leaves his muddy river to do so. On his way he encounters a hippopotamus, a monkey, a bird of paradise, and finally an elephant who all are horrified by his "plans and clever tricks" that he has in mind to eat up several juicy children.The crocodile makes his way to a town, and deploys his methods, some of which are indeed clever. It is here where Quentin Blake's strengths come in, as the disguises are both simultaneously all-crocodile, and all disguise: only an outstanding artist like Blake could have pulled it off. My children squealed with delight.Of course, Dahl's sense of humour is of times a bit dark, but make no mistake, the crocodile gets his just deserts even though there are thrills a-plenty on the way.Delightful, but probably best saved until a child is over three years old and recognizes the fun and whimsy implied in the enormous crocodile's horrid mission.
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