A wry first-person narrative leisurely spins out a delightfully exaggerated tale about an Egyptian crocodile who was captured by Napoleon and put on display as a curiosity in Paris. The egotistical crocodile hates his new accomodations but, still, is flattered by all the attention he receives. When he becomes old news, however, he manages to escape to the sewers of Paris. True to character, breakfast, lunch and dinner are never far from the crocodile’s mind, no matter where he resides. Marcellino’s watercolor illustrations set the mmod both by givning a strong sense of time and place, and by adding flourish to the crocodile’s deliciously beguiling character. (Ages 4-8)