Where's My Mommy?

by Jo Brown

When Little Crocodile emerges from his shell, he goes in search of his mommy and encounters many jungle animals along the way until he comes across a group of crocodiles near the water.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Animals, Storytime

18 pages, Board Book

First published December 20, 2002

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Crocodile looked around and saw a monkey hanging from a branch.

"Are you my mommy?" Little Crocodile asked.

"Well, can you swing from a tree like me?" asked the monkey.

Little Crocodile couldn't even reach the lowest branch.

"And can you do this?" said the monkey... "OOOOOOEEEEAAA"

Little Crocodile tried, but all that came out of his mouth was "Snap."

"No, you're definitely not a monkey," said the monkey. "But I'm sure you'll find your mommy soon."

So Little Crocodile wandered off along the path.

I wasn't excited to read this book. How many books could they possibly write about a lost animal child looking for it's mother who has cruelly abandoned it?!!?!?!? One billion?!!!?!? Is this going to end any time soon?

This version of this tired tale involves the allegedly adult animals who are blind or possibly stupid, asking the Little Crocodile to perform species-specific tasks. For instance, the elephant asks him to squirt water out of his "trunk." Never mind that Little Crocodile doesn't have a *&^$ing trunk. The poor thing is coughing and sputtering and the elephant is like, "Nope, not an elephant!!!!" And I'm like, "No shit, Sherlock."

Brown is also determined to showcase each animal's "sound," usually in a very long onomatopoeia way.

The illustrations are RIDICULOUSLY cute, I couldn't stop laughing when the Little Crocodile tries to roll in the grass like a tiger and gets stuck on his back. It's adorable.

Anyway, a zebra finally takes pity on him and gives him a ride to the crocodile pond and everyone rejoices. In real life, those crocs would eat that zebra as payment for delivering their young, but this is a kid book so no bloody, realistic ending here.

Tl;dr - A book full of idiot animals who are blind or possibly very stupid. Child abandonment. Very cute illustrations.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very cute story about a crocodile trying to find his mommy.

[Kristine Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book is really great for young ones ages 2-5. A brand new baby crocodile goes in search for where his real mommy is and along the way confuses other animals for her. As he encounters new animals he finds that he cannot do the same things that they can, and he starts to cry. After meeting Zebra, though, she leads him to the river where he finds that he can splash like they can, and he is reunited with his mommy. Best of all, he finds that he can "snap" just like all of the other crocodiles too! The predictable format of this book is what makes it a picture book.

This would be a cute book to talk to the students about what sounds each animal makes or what unique features each one has in a small group discussion. I could give each table an animal and they could list all of the characteristics that they know of those animals such as; what foods do they eat, where do they live (which continent?), what sounds do they make, what are the names of their young (for example, a baby cat is called a kitten, a baby sheep is called a lamb).

[Zee Zahri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good picture book for early years children and a fantastic book to be read aloud. the book is about an alligator who has lost his mummy and all the hilarity that goes with it. Being able to do the different voices for the characters is great fun for the children and adults alike!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2 year old daughter loves this book. (She asks for it when she wakes at 3am.) The pictures are colourful. it includes several easily recognisable animals, and their sounds and some activities/actions they do (e.g. the monkey swings from tree, and says ooo eee aaa), helping differentiate different species. It lends itself to fun voices. There is a recurring repetitive line "Are you my mummy?" which encourages the young toddler to 'read' along with the adult reader. The zebra helps the crocodile, showing caring and assistance. I would buy this again as a gift for a toddler. My 4 year old has less interest, so I would target it for younger children.

[Miss Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby crocodile has just hatched and is in search for his mother. He meets several animals along the way. Each time he asks, "Are you my Mommy? he gets a question back. "Can you swing from a tree like me?" or "Can you squirt water like me?" Until he finally sees splashing and swimming. There he finds his family in the river.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable little book that young children would be sure to enjoy.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations in this book as well as the concept. Great introduction to different animals and their abilities. Reminded me a lot of P D Eastman’s “are you my mother”

[RussellFamily Childcare · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this one! The friends laughed so hard when I made animal noises.

[Rachel F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to Henry

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a small board book, but it is funny, with a lot of opportunity for kids to make sounds. A little crocodile has lost his mommy, and tries to see who else might be his mother. Of course, his talents show him to not be like other animals, because he always has to *SNAP*, because that's what little crocodiles do best. Great for story time, and because of the opportunities for sounds and movement, it is adaptable to different ages too.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

A baby alligator looking for his/her Mommy. Along the way he meets other kinds of animals. I absolutely love to read this one aloud, because there are ample opportunities to "do the voices" of all the animals (and make some pretty wild animal noises). I also love because of the repeated line with the "SNAP." After a couple of "SNAP"s I let the kids fill that one in for me.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that is not entirely original, but is still a lot of fun!

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mari and in turn Mira have loved this book for years.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Other books do this better.

[Cil]

good for babytime or storytim

[Kristin Sprague · Rating 2 out of 5]

no one likes being lost.

[Ama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very similar to Are you my Mother? by P. D. Eastman, but with more animals. Cute illustrations.

[Shawn Mcclory · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is basically a rip off of Dr. Seuss`s Are You My Mother. It has cute pictures and my little girl liked it.