Princess Cora and the Crocodile

(Paperback)

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Description

A Newbery Medalist and a Caldecott Medalist join forces to give an overscheduled princess a day off and a deliciously wicked crocodile a day on.

Princess Cora is sick of boring lessons. Shes sick of running in circles around the dungeon gym. Shes sick, sick, sick of taking three baths a day. And her parents wont let her have a dog. But when she writes to her fairy godmother for help, she doesnt expect that help to come in the form of a crocodilea crocodile who does not behave properly. With perfectly paced dry comedy, childrens book luminaries Laura Amy Schlitz and Brian Floca send Princess Cora on a delightful outdoor adventure climbing trees! getting dirty! having fun! while her alter ego wreaks utter havoc inside the castle, obliging one pair of royal helicopter parents to reconsider their ways.

Reviews

The Newbery medalist (for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!) Laura Amy Schlitzs witty writing matches perfectly with the energetic watercolors by Brian Floca, who won the Caldecott Medal for Locomotive. I dare you not to laugh at the pink-frocked reptile desperately trying to jump rope.
The New York Times Book Review

An accomplished storyteller who knows her audience, Schlitz offers an original tale that seamlessly combines reality, magic, and wit. Flocas expressive pencil, watercolor, and gouache artwork perfectly captures the characters...this early chapter book is beautifully designed for newly independent readers. For younger children, its a memorable choice for reading aloud in the home or classroom. Either way, its great fun.
Booklist (starred review)

Legions of schoolchildren will empathize with overscheduled Princess Cora...In illustrations that amplify Schlitzs wry humor, Caldecott Medalist Floca (Locomotive) produces a reptile that delightfully runs amuck. A mop wig and frilly dress let princess and croc to swap places, allowing Cora much-needed freedom while the crocodile trades insults with the Queen (Reptile! Mammal!) and gnaws on the fitness-obsessed King (just a little). Utterly charming from start to finish.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Schlitzs narrative is incredibly entertaining, with chapters that alternate between chaos at the castle and Coras meandering day in the woods and pastures. Featuring Flocas hysterical full-color artwork, the book is laugh-out-loud funny...The fable is reminiscent of the finest adult-comeuppance collaborations of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, with the added bonus that the princess learns to speak up for herself and the grown-ups learn to listen.
School Library Journal (starred review)

Seven spry chapters detail Coras much-needed day off and the crocodiles humorous attempts to impersonate her. Copious ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations are both delicate in their sensibility (the way princesses often are in classic tales) and witty in their execution (i.e., the crocodile is very poorly disguised).
Horn Book

The crocodile's antics are juxtaposed against Cora's pastoral day and enhanced by Floca's ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations, which superbly amplify the story's emotional arc. All ends happily...A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming illustrations.
Kirkus Reviews

Flocas crocodile achieves sly, good-natured ferocity tempered by the delicacy of the ink, watercolor and gouache illustrations, and the humans are just as serious and glum as they should be until Cora asserts her independence. Although divided into chapters, this standout original fairy tale can be devoured in one sitting, making it an excellent overall choice for early readers or a family readaloud.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Readers ages 5-10 will cheer when, with the grown-ups humbled, Cora stands up for herself at last and insists on fewer baths, better books, jollier exerciseand, in place of the crocodile, a dog of her own.
The Wall Street Journal

Hilarious art in Victorian Era style shows the crocodile cross-dress as Cora, carry on in her place (shes off to play in the dirt) and shake up the parents, all for an important point: Princess or not, its worth the struggle to be yourself and make your own choices.
San Francisco Chronicle

A Newbery Medalist (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!) and a Caldecott Medalist (Locomotive) team up for a very entertaining feminist fairy tale of a princess who rebels against her overbearing parents in rather novel ways.
Buffalo News

Readers will find it hard to not love this inappropriate crocodile and his Princess owner.
School Library Connection

Timely and incisive, this one's a keeper.
BookPage

The Dahl-esque story has a classic feel, and Floca's art blends wit and beauty. A perfect read-aloud though adults will need a sense of humor.
Plain Dealer

Whether youre a Cora or a crocodile or a little bit of both, youre bound to stand in wonder when you see what Schlitz and Floca have come up with together.
A Fuse #8 Production (blog)

Author Bio

Laura Amy Schlitz is the author of the Newbery Medal winner Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, the Newbery Honor Book and New York Times bestseller Splendors and Glooms, the Scott O'Dell Award winner and New York Times bestseller The Hired Girl, the sumptuously illustrated chapter book The Night Fairy, and other critically acclaimed books for young readers. A teacher as well as a writer, Laura Amy Schlitz lives in Maryland.

Brian Floca is the author-illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winner Locomotive, the Robert F. Sibert Honor books Moonshot and Lightship, and other picture books, and is the illustrator of many more books for young readers. Brian Floca lives and works in Brooklyn.