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Counting Crocodiles. Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. Harcourt, 1997. The Story Behind the Book The basic plot of this book comes from a folktale that's been collected in Japan, Indonesia, and India. A small trickster character—a monkey, a mouse deer, or a rabbit— wants to cross the water, but doesn't know how to swim, and besides, the water is full of crocodiles, or sharks! The little trickster takes advantage of the oversize egos of the dangerous creatures, telling them to line up and be counted in order to prove that there are a huge number of them. I wondered if I could expand the story into a picture book that was also a counting book. Because so many words rhyme with "crocodile" and "croc," I rhymed the list of all the things the crocodiles might be doing while being counted: One crocodile with a great big smile, Two crocs resting on rocks, Three crocs rocking in a box, Four crocs building with blocks, Five crocs tickling a fox, Six crocs in pink mohawks, Seven crocs juggling clocks, Eight crocs in polka-dot socks, Nine crocs with chicken pox, And ten crocs dressed like Goldilocks. Then I wrote the entire story in rhyme. As I wrote, I wondered what illustrator could possibly draw the crocodiles doing all of these ridiculous things (while in the water, no less). Will Hillenbrand took the story far, far beyond the silliness of the words and created the funniest illustrations ever. Will Hillenbrand also created a story of his own in the illustrations, the story of the snail and the starfish. Watch for it as you read Counting Crocodiles. |
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