Ed and Kip by Kay Chorao -- OPTIONAL

Chorao, Kay Ed and Kip. PICTURE BOOK. Holiday House, 2014. $14.95. Content: PG

Ed, Kip, and a beetle friend are playing when their stone rolls down into the river. When they go in to retrieve it, a crocodile emerges from the water and opens its mouth, showing its huge teeth. Scared, the beetle bites the crocodile's tongue, and Ed and Kip throw the rock into the crocodile's mouth. Then they run off to play some more.

This book feels unnecessarily violent to me. Either the crocodile was truly a threat (in which case it is quite scary for young children), or it was simply minding its own business (in which case Ed, Kip, and the beetle attacked it for no reason at all except that they were frightened). Also, it is difficult to follow both the speech bubbles and the text, as sometimes the dialogue is meant to come before the text, and sometimes afterward. This makes it very awkward for read-alouds.

Pre-K, EL (K-3) -- OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Caryn