What Does The Crocodile Say?

Little Crocodile is woken up by the alarm – dringg dringg! He has a wash – sssplash! Then it’s time for a munchy breakfast and a zzzup getting dressed. Yet when mummy and Little Crocodile go hup-hup up the stairs to nursery, Little Crocodile starts to cling onto mummy. Fortunately, at nursery, the drum goes pom-pa-pom, the triangle goes tingg and the food goes om om om.

First days at nursery – or even a while after the first day, when little ones are still getting used to parents or carers not being around – can be really hard for little ones and grown-ups. What Does The Crocodile Say? manages to express all the anxieties associated with separation and provide a happy reassurance that nursery is actually quite fun – through the medium of toddler noises, and the expression in Montanari’s beautiful, soft pencil drawing.

This is an emotive, wonderful book, deceptively simple in its execution and proves that there are always innovations to be made in the simplest of picture book themes.