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Photo: Kevin Zime

I have an admission to make….
…..I’ve got a soft spot for crocodiles!

Apparently one of my first words was “crocodile” (well… something more like “tot-la-die-loo” if I’m precise), and if a book has a crocodile in it, I’ll always give it a second look. Little Croc’s Purse by Lizzie Finlay is full of cute crocodiles so I was more than happy to read it to M and J when we discovered it recently.

Little Croc is out playing one day with his friends when he finds a purse. The crocodiles soon discover it is full of money, and all but Little Croc start talking about what they will buy with the purse’s contents. Little Croc, however, is determined to take the purse to the police station in an attempt to find its rightful owner.

Despite the jeering from his friends and various temptations laid before him Little Croc sticks to his guns and his honesty is then rewarded; the owner of the purse is so pleased to be reunited with a locket none of the crocodiles had realised was hidden in the purse, that Little Croc is given the purse and the money by way of thanks. Being a good sort of crocodile Little Croc splits his reward three ways – he spends some, he shares some (by buying gifts for his friends) and he saves the rest. Everyone ends up happy and Little Croc has shown his friends that honesty really is the best policy.

M and J have enjoyed this book. The illustrations are bright and cheerful and the crocodiles are just charming. I personally found the storyline a little
didactic; the “moral” of the story is laid out in such a way as to leave little room for personal reflection or drawing one’s own conclusions (which is surely a far more powerful way to learn from something). And whilst I of course applaud Little Croc’s actions, and would want my kids to do the same I couldn’t stop thinking about my own experience of once handing in a bunch of keys I’d found to the police station – the officer on duty looked at me almost with disdain and all but said he had better things to be doing with his time that looking after lost property… a true but sorry story.

Despite all this, Little Croc’s generosity is heart-warming (he goes out of his way to give a gift to one of the crocodiles who had been particularly horrible to him, and this selfless act of kindness, you sense, ensures that the previously unpleasant crocodile will be much nicer in the future) and although the main message of the story is a little starkly put for my liking, several other themes are introduced with a lightness of touch, such as not giving in to bullying, still being liked and respected by others even when opinions on the best course of action differ, a discussion of what gives an object value, and a rather sensible approach to financial management which could make this a good book to read if you are about to start giving your kids pocket money.

All this all adds up to create a story that has given M and me plenty to talk to each other about – and a book that creates conversations long after the covers have been closed is always a winner.

Our immediate crafty reaction to this book was to use some of the boxes that have been