Solomon Crocodile’s rough play prevents him from making friends down by the river until a stranger comes stomping through the reeds!
- ISBN: 9780374380649
- Published: 2011 , Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
- Themes: Fun, jungle, Trouble
- Descriptors: England (UK), Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9)
- No. of pages: 32
I chose to read this book because I eventually would like to teach pre-school or kindergarten. I always find that students respond positively to books with animals as the main characters and the illustrations were wonderful.
With that said, I really enjoyed the lively illustrations and I’m sure that many students can relate to having no one to play with just like Solomon. Although the story may be relatable, I feel like it needed something more. I kept waiting for the other animals to accept Solomon, however that never happened. I enjoyed the fact that Solomon found a friend, but I didn’t like how the two of them teamed up just to bother the other animals more.
In the future, I can envision using this story as a jumping off point for a writing assignment to allow students to write/draw about a time where they felt alone and had no one to play with and how this incident made them feel. I also think I would have a discussion with students after the book to see if they would have handled the situation differently than Solomon.