Horn Book

The spotlight is on crocodiles in this lively addition to Eaton’s series (previ-ous titles presented “seriously funny facts” about hippos, bears, dolphins, and elephants). Straightforward informational prose provides a crash course on croco-dile types, diet, reproduction, habitat, and more. The cartoonlike pen-and-ink illustrations tell a story of their own, with thick black outlines and bold colors. Crocs and other creatures—including a party hat–wearing kid—are shown with speech bubbles in silly fictionalized scenarios, often cracking jokes as they react to the factual content and plan a birthday party for the kid and the baby crocs who hatch in the story. At the same time, labels and panels (often resembling wooden park signage) are featured on the visually dense pages, revealing additional facts with relatable, child-friendly explanations. “A baby croc often weighs as little as a stick of butter.” A spread of “croc country no-nos” includes safety tips; the scare factor is kept to a minimum through the use of humor and thoughtful descrip-tions. (Although humans are listed on the croc diet diagram, the only prey fiercely hunted and devoured by a croc in this book is a birthday-party piñata.) This wacky, fact-packed title can serve multiple purposes: educational, entertaining, and everything in between.