IF I HAD A CROCODILE

What would life be like with a toothy green reptile for a pet?

With this series installment, the creative team is in fine form as the series’ star, a small Black child in a blue dress and signature curled-brim hat, considers the advantages of a crocodile companion. There’s nothing wrong with fish or birds, but the child aims for a pet “with lots and lots of style”—like a croc. Crocodiles are “jazzy,” so at school the child and the croc will “practice clarinet”—though the svelte reptile appears to be playing percussion on his own scaly spine—in the “Count Snappy Quintet.” The crocodile gamely allows his elongated snout to serve as a playground slide and ferries children in pirate costumes on a small pond. Child and pet pose at the ballet barre and dine out, after which the child has to deal with cleaning up croc droppings. As the child uses an industrial scrubber to brush the croc’s choppers, their parents (one brown-skinned, one slightly lighter-skinned) hover approvingly in the doorway. The rhyming and rhythm are irresistible, ideal for storytime, with plenty of fun vocabulary (pizzazz, fangs). The child’s friends are diverse. Strikingly composed illustrations are as important as words. The game of snap leads to a punning image of jaws and cards. Warm closure replaces a final narrative surprise, and the penultimate illustration is the cleverest, incorporating references to other images in this book and to other titles in the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Snappy images and jazzy rhymes make this a delight to read aloud.