"How do you teach kids about propaganda? Maybe I should do a book on it," I mused.
"Sounds like a sequel to the Crazy Crocodile," Richard responded.
Lots of jokes and few rounds of drafting later, The Crazy Crocodile - Plover Problems began to take shape.
In the new story, the plover, who eat leftovers from the crocodile's teeth need to trick the jungle animals to visiting the river and being eaten. They try fear, insults, and appeals to authority (via the return of the feckless and venal King Peacock) before eventually finding themselves trapped in their own narrative.
The story is approachable and enjoyable even for young kids. My 2- and 4-year old asked to read it repeatedly. They loved chomping along with the crocodile and (spoiler alert) hissing along with the snake.
With a few more illustration projects under my belt, the art work is step up from the original Crazy Crocodile (if I do say so myself), but the crocodile may scare some kids, so check out the web preview if your kids are sensitive to that sort of thing.
The title is currently available in paperback on Amazon and here at copperjungle.net. Check it out!