Reviews of “The Crocodile who Wanted to be Famous” written by Alan Jefferies, illustrated by Mariko Jesse (Sixth Finger, 2004)
“Local writer Alan Jefferies has borrowed from the real-life adventures of Hong Kong’s own Yuen Long Croc, Pui Pui to create a story which is both humorous and thought provoking.
It is a story which is sure to resonate with readers of all ages, touching on the hot topics of pollution, parental authority, and the effects of too much bad TV.
The illustrations, by unsung local talent Mariko Jesse (who also illustrated the girl-power book Sarsparilla’s New Shoes by Hong Kong-based writing twins Ming and Wah Chen) are sweet and whimsical and ideally suited to the text.
The bilingual book is also written in Chinese, and would make a lovely Christmas gift for any Hong Kong child between the ages of 4 and 14.”
Karmel Schreyer
from “The Asia Review of Books”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“The illustrations by Mariko Jesse are fun and it has an easy going pace and a touch of humour that would work well in the classroom.”
Hazel Perry
from “The South China Morning Post”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“Overall it’s a simple story that children will relish, especially if they are familiar with the saga of our real-life croc. Parents will also get a kick out of it because not only will the book resonate with children, but it will make them ask questions about animals, human nature and the state of the environment.
“This is one croc who may never be as famous as this heroes, Jackie Chan and Yao Ming, but in his own way he’s likely to be just as inspiring…”
-SM
from “Hong Kong Magazine”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“The tale is spiced with local flavour, including a folk song sung by an old boat woman who longs for her long-lost daughter.
Alongside the English, there is a Chinese translation by Lian Yue, and humorous illustrations by Mariko Jesse. The bilingual format can assist readers learning English or Chinese, and lends authenticity to a story based in this part of the world”
Joyce Ng
from “The Student Standard”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“Hong Kong writer Alan Jefferies has also captured the crocodile very well in his imaginative reconstruction of the story for children and adults, entitled The crocodile who wanted to be famous. In Jefferies’ version of the tale, which is enlivened by Mariko Jesse’ wonderful line drawings of both crocodiles and the city, the fictional crocodile
named Crafty sees imagages of Hong kong on television, and makes up his mind to go there.”
“Hong Kong: a cultural and literary history”
by Michael Ingham (Signal, 2008)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
