CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Books in Brief
By Jane Fritsch
Published: November 21, 1999
Written and illustrated
by Fred Marcellino.
Michael di Capua/HarperCollins, $15.95. (All ages)
Many splendid Hollywood careers famously ended abruptly when talking pictures replaced silent movies. Some stars looked fabulous, but sounded like Pee-wee Herman. There is a lesson here for the talented illustrator Fred Marcellino. ''I, Crocodile,'' his first attempt at both writing and illustrating a children's book, looks great, but the words get in the way.
Actually, the entire story gets in the way. The tale, inspired by a 19th-century French satire by an unknown author, centers on a crocodile captured in Egypt and transported to Paris by Napoleon, who decides to cook and eat the animal. But the crocodile, the story's narrator, escapes into the sewers and makes his own dinner out of a lady of Napoleon's court.
It is an understatement to say that this story lacks charm and is not fit for bedtime. But the book is almost self-censoring: only the cleverest child would be able to follow the story to its gruesome end. The confusing story line is not helped by words that are way out of age range for a storybook. A few new words can challenge and stimulate. But a reading of ''I, Crocodile'' is like a bus ride on the local route during rush hour. Frequent stops are needed to define a lot of 25-cent words, like ''delectable,'' ''succulent,'' ''pathetic,'' aristocrat,'' ''abrupt,'' ''obelisk,'' ''scrumptious,'' ''fetid'' and ''loutish.'' Are we there yet? And how does one explain phrases like ''toast of the Tuileries'' and ''darling of the Empire''? It's too bad, because the crocodile is rendered with charm and wit enough to draw in most any child. It's just that once into the story, one doesn't want to stay for very long. Jane Fritsch