What Time Is It, Mr. Crocodile?

by Judy Sierra, Doug Cushman (Illustrator)

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Mr. Crocodile intends to catch and eat five annoying monkeys, but as the hours pass, the monkeys outwit him again and again, and wind up teaching Mr. Crocodile a valuable lesson about friendship.

Genres: Picture Books, Mathematics, Childrens, Animals, Friendship, Storytime, 1st Grade

30 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2007

Reviews

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade Level(s): K-2
* Teaches students how to determine and measure time
* Use to teach younger grade levels how to create and follow a daily schedule of events during classroom meeting.
* Can be used to teach rhyming words as an integrated studies lesson
* Great for students learning to read analog clocks
* Use during morning meeting with younger students to explain why it is important to be courteous to others
* As a lesson, have students create "Crocodile Clocks".

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Crocodile has carefully planned his day, but pesky monkeys keep getting in the way. Or do they?

A humorous tale about an organized crocodile and some very energetic monkeys that has a surprise twist the monkeys end up helping an over-tired Mr. Crocodile by cooking dinner for him instead of being his dinner, and they become unlikely friends. There are clocks on each page and readers get to see how Mr. Crocodile’s planned schedule turns out while getting practice reading an analog clock. I like how this story plays with your expectations, ask little ones to predict what will happen next!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

My children love these little books. They thoroughly enjoy each and every story, as if they are all unique and individual without any cause for similarity among them. Even though sometimes, they might seem tedious and repetitive to me as a parent, I do enjoy being able to read short-stories to my children that are clean and respective.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every evening Mr. Crocodile, Esquire plans his next day's events to occur by the hour. His plans include to catch those five pesky monkey for his dinner. But those pesky monkeys outwit him every hour of his day. So after being out witted time and time again, Mr. Crocodile, Esquire comes up with a suitable solution.

[Kennedy Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to read when introducing time. I thought the book was very cute and students would enjoy it. It includes a lot of repetition which is great for students when they are learning a new topic.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story for teaching o'clock times to kids.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story and colorful illustrations.

[Jessica Plowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book to help with time

[Allie Bigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute it’s definitely one of my favorites

[Sadie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is fun little book to teach reading clocks on the hour. My kids enjoyed finding what time it was on each page.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was another win with my reading groups. Kids loved the notes and repetiton. They got so good at reading with expression and they laughed on every page!

[Maki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous story about making lists, getyin through the day of activities and changing ur mindset.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, cute, and educational.

[Nicole Survis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What Time Is It Mr. Crocodile?" is an excellent fantasy story that can be used to teach emergent readers a variety of different skills in order to help them read as well as learn in general.

The story is written in rhyming verse, which is an important phonetic principle for pre/emergent readers to learn in order to approach the beginning steps of reading. In addition to having a lot of rhymes, the story is written in a pattern, which allows for students to enjoy the read aloud in a call and response manner, which also encourages their participation.

In addition to these phonetic skills, the story also teaches students how to follow a schedule, how to tell time, as well as the important lesson of how to be kind to others. This allows for great reading comprehension questions of the factual, inferential, and critical thinking variety.

Overall, this is a really fun and engaging story that will help children learn how to read while also working with them on comprehension. It also has a wacky vocabulary, which is always an added bonus! I highly recommend it!

[Mhm Storytelling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites! It is about a Crocodile who's whole day revolves around catching pesky monkeys. After being bothered by the monkeys all day long, he finally gets close to catching them. Mr. Crocodile changes his mind at the last minute and ends up becoming best friend with all of the monkeys.

Great Features: Very interactive storytelling book. On every page the children are encouraged to say with the storyteller- "What time is it Mr. Crocodile?" It also has great illustrations!

Themes/Topics:Crocodiles, monkeys, being friendly

Red Flags: Mr. crocodile does talk about eating the monkeys. That might upset some children

Opportunities for Interactions: Besides helping the storyteller, children can act like the animals in the book. For example, they can make big chomping crocodile mouths with their hands and arms, and they can get up and jump around like monkeys and make monkey noises.

[Amy Seto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every night before bed, Mr. Crocodile, Esquire, sits down to plan the next day, from 9:00 (wake up) to 8:00 (sing a lullaby to me). The next day he tries to stick to his plan to catch, cook, and eat “those pesky monkeys,” but the monkeys are having too much fun playing with Mr. Crocodile to get caught. By the end of the day, Mr. Crocodile realizes he’s been “rude, with a bad attitude, I’d much rather have you as friends than as food.” That night when he sits down to plan the next day, he makes sure to set aside plenty of time to play his new monkey friends.

The rhyming text of this book makes it perfect for a read aloud and kids will enjoy shouting out, “What time is it, Mr. Crocodile?” each time you turn the page. The brightly colored illustrations are dynamic, with those pesky monkeys running riot on every page, much to the chagrin of Mr. Crocodile.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2...

[Hillary]

Mrs. Hatch used this book with a game in the gym as they were learning about time. She read them the book and then told them they were monkeys and she was a crocodile. They picked three times she would be hunting monkeys to eat (8:00, 12:30, and 6:00). She told them about her day and they had to make their individual clocks say the time she talked about. They would hold them up and she made sure they were correct. When they got to their special times they had to run across the gym without being caught by her and put into the middle in monkey stew. If they got the time wrong on their clocks they were in the middle. The monkeys in the middle also helped chase monkeys. It was a fun lesson that combined math and PE, I loved it!

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story the main character is a Crocodile that likes to have things just the way he plans it, he even has a schedule for his day. Which includes catching the monkeys, cooking the monkeys and eating the monkeys. But as he starts his day the five little monkeys come and 'help' him do his breakfast, his grocery shopping 'where'd all these bananas come from?' and other daily things throughout the day the monkeys ask "What time is it Mr Crocodile?" at the end of the day Mr Crocodile decides that instead of eating the monkeys that he very much enjoys having them around and tucks them into bed (without any jumping on the bed this time) to start his 'tomorrow' with having fun and playing with the monkeys.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a story about a crocodile and his scheduled throughout the day. It refers to time through the book. Shows sequencing through the integrations if math. Also incorporates acceptance of friend because at the beginning of the book the crocodile is anxious for lunch so he can cook the monkey’s, but after he spends time with them realizes he wants to keep them as friends versus eating them, because they are fun.

This book could be incorporated into a math lesson about time. By providing the students with a book that emphasizes on time, students will be able to see how we use time throughout our day.

[Shani Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction for telling time and reading clocks. In the story, Mr. Crocodile uses his planner to schedule his day and determine what time he will catch and cook a few pesky monkeys. In the classroom, students can create their own daily schedule in their notebooks or on a worksheet. Studenta would be given clock cut outs with missing hands. Students would draw the two hands on the clocks to create the appropriate time that matches the activities and times they wrote about. Students could use their usual schedule or include activities they wish they could engage in throughout the day.

[Kimberly Parrott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a good story if you are teaching your child (or children) about friendship. The crocodile originally wants to eat the pesky monkeys, but as they help him with his everyday tasks he realizes that they are much easier to get along with than trying to catch. They eat dinner together and read stories and they befriend each other. This sends a good and powerful message to kids at a young age. I would recommend this book to any teacher or parent. The pictures are very detailed and colorful so the child will know exactly what is going on.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Crocodile is surrounded by pesky monkeys and plans his day to include catching, cooking and eating them! Each bright illustration shows Mr. C moving through his day...with mischievous monkeys making messes and creating chaos in the background. My storytime audience loved the rhyming text and repeated phrase, "What time is it Mr. Crocodile?" and enjoyed shouting it out with me. Eventually, the monkeys win over Mr. Crocodile and in the end his list of things to do during the next day looks very different. This is a fun read-aloud!

[Kristen Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book evolves around a fun story and children that are always inquiring on what time it is to an crocodile.
Teaches students how to determine and measure time
* Use to teach younger grade levels how to create and follow a daily schedule of events during classroom meeting.
* Can be used to teach rhyming words as an integrated studies lesson
* Great for students learning to read analog clocks
* Use during morning meeting with younger students to explain why it is important to be courteous to others
* As a lesson, have students create "Crocodile Clocks".

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story about a crocodile and his schedule to get rid of some pesky monkeys. This book teaches students the concept of time in an interactive way. I would use this book in an activity where students are given their own clock and they can change the time as I read the story; the students can also follow along by repeating the "monkey chants". As a follow up, I can have students write their own time-schedule.

[Evelyn Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! A great way to introduce time to my students. It also has rhyming in it so it can be used in multiple lessons. It also is a great way to teach children to be nice to others. In the beginning the crocodile thought the monkeys were pests and in the end he made his next day schedule around his "nice" monkeys. He realized he would rather have friends then not. I think there is a good lesson here :)

[Crystal Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had two good concepts; rhyming and time. This book also had the concept of repetition with words, which allows young readers to be able to predict what will come next and allows them to read along. The illustrations make this book come to life and also ties into the concept of timeline by relating the time on the clock to Mr. Crocodiles timed schedule.
Reading Level: 2.7
Interest Level: Grades K-2
Lexile Measure®: 940L

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Time is it Mr. Crocodile has the opportunity to be a great read aloud book; students will love the call/response style the book is written in. The book would be great for math lessons on telling time or to teach literary elements. This book showcases repetition, alliteration, and rhyming words in a kid friendly way. Every time this book is read, students will enjoy being able to participate by asking "What time is it Mr. Crocodile?"

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr Crocodile has his dayplanner filled, hour by hour. After a day of play in the sun, he plans to catch, cook, and dine on monkeys. But somehow, his plans go awry, and his carefully outlined day does not end up the way he expected that it would. Doug Cushman splashes the pages with bold, super-saturated acrylic colors. Picture book for ages 3-7.

[Shannon Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Crocodile has his dayplanner filled, hour by hour. After a day of play in the sun, he plans to catch, cook, and dine on monkeys. But somehow, his plans go awry, and his carefully outlined day does not end up the way he expected that it would. The pages splash with bold, super-saturated acrylic colors. My kids absolutely love this book, they find mr. crocodile super silly!

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What Time is it Mr. Crocodile" is a very cute story that helps teach students about time. The story is very engaging and easy to read so it helps students understand the concept of time in a fun way. I would definitely get students to participate by letting them use their own clocks while reading the story.