Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber {1965}

Who ever knew a crocodile could make such an amicable pet and literary character? I love Lyle, Lyle Crocodile for its random quirkiness, and Lyle himself for his {surprisingly} sensitive and gentle temperament.

Plot. Lyle the lovable crocodile lives with Mr. Primm, Mrs. Primm, and their son Joshua on East 88th street. This is the tale of his life with them in the big city, some neighborly conflict with Mr. Grumps and his cat Loretta, and how they all came to live happily ever after together.

Thematic Elements. Lyle, through no fault of his own, has a terrible time getting along with Mr. Grumps and Loretta, who have simply decided that he is bad news. Conflict resolution, and graciously responding to difficult people, are key aspects of this story.

Educational Opportunities. Talk about addresses with your child - Lyle lives on East 88th street. Help them memorize their address. Teach older {and more coordinated} children how to jump rope, double-dutch, just like Lyle. Discuss life in a big city, show your child pictures of famous big cities. Or, better yet, if you live near a big city, take your child on an exploratory field trip.

Activities. 

• Houghton Mifflin has an interesting Author Bio for parents to read, as well as printable party supplies (invitations, name tags, etc.) and printable activity pages available for free on their website. Though the activities say for ages three and up, most of them seem a little to difficult for a three year old, in my opinion. 
• Make your own Lyle out of a clothespin. 
• Do some crocodile counting together. Brilliant idea from this book-loving mom! 
• Make a crocodile container, letter flash cards, and practice letter identification- "Lyle, Crocodile, down by the lake, gonna reach in and see what letter you ate."

Other Resources. Believe it or not, Lyle has been adapted for the stage. If it ever happens to be playing at a theater near you, you will definitely have to check it out!

Be sure to also check out... I didn't realize it until researching for this post, but this is actually the second book of the Lyle series. The first is The House on East 88th Street. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile was then followed by a host of others- Lovable Lyle, Lyle Finds His Mother, Lyle at Christmas, Lyle at the Office, Lyle and the Birthday Party, and Funny, Funny Lyle.

Looking for more great books to read with your preschooler? Check out the rest of this 31 Days series here!

Some of the links above are affiliate links- which means that if you make a purchase through them, I receive a small profit at no extra charge to you. But you should know that I am an avid believer in reading for free through both local and church libraries ;). Thanks for supporting The Purposeful Wife!