The Christmas Crocodile
By Bonny Becker
Illustrated by: David Small
Review by: Yvonne Gaudet
Alice Jayne found a Christmas Crocodile under her tree. He was wrapped with a red bow around his neck, but he ate it! He ate a couple of presents and decorations, and ran off with the Christmas roast. He was eating Christmas and no one knew what to do! He was bad! Uncle Theodore said to send him to Africa. Aunt Figgy said to put him in an orphanage. Poor Crocodile! Alice sent him to the back room of the house and locked the door, but when she hears him sniffling she sneaks him a pineapple upside down cake and a pumpkin pie! As her relatives were still contemplating what to do, Alice Jayne cried out that they should keep him, that he needed a real home to live in. That night the Christmas Crocodile ate through the door of the back room. He didn’t mean to be bad, but that Christmas Crocodile went on an eating spree all through the house, which only stopped when he took a little nibble of Aunt Figgy’s toe! Alice Jayne was told to lock Christmas Crocodile in the basement, but when she returned to her own bed, she felt bad and it didn’t feel like Christmas Eve at all! So she went down to the cold dark basement and gave Christmas Crocodile her blanket and shared an old candy cane with him. Suddenly, all of Alice Jayne’s relatives made there way to the basement, each with their own reasons why they should keep Christmas Crocodile! When everyone had fallen asleep in the basement, Christmas Crocodile awoke and again ate through the door! He didn’t mean to be bad, but he ate all of the Christmas things! Christmas was gone! Just then Alice Jayne noticed a small gift that the crocodile had missed. She carefully opened it and found a note inside from Uncle Carbuncle. “Dear family,” it said “I hope you like Crocodiles!!!” “Love, Uncle Carbuncle”
Up to this point it sounded wonderful to the whole family, but as Alice Jayne pointed out, they didn’t have an Uncle Carbuncle! What happens after this is not only Hilarious but surprising too! I recommend this story to children between the ages of 4-10. Your sure to get a chuckle out of them!
