Croco is a lovely and original book. I snorted with laughter, I sighed with emotion and surprise, and I lingered over the images.
Croco, a picture book by Azul Lopez (2022 in Spanish, 2025 in English) tells the story of Croco, a crocodile. He falls in a hole and gets stuck, and the book focuses on his efforts to get out. He tries alone, then tries a range of suggestions from other passing animals. Each animal suggests what would work for them. For example, a snake suggests wrapping around a tree trunk and spinning up, birds suggest flapping, and so on. Each of these efforts fails.
The animals then all pitch in together: the birds, snake, and monkeys all try to pull Croco out.
And they fail.
Croco is so disappointed, and so sad, that he cries and cries and cries. And his tears fill the hole he’s stuck in, until he climbs out and goes on his way.
The book’s design is part of its appeal: it is a wide, short book, but once opened, it needs to be turned 90 degrees, making it a tall, narrow book (like the hole Croco’s stuck in). The inner sides of the front and back covers are marked with the scale patterns of crocodile skin. The animals are all bright colors against a dark green jungle background, making the world feel full and closed, and drawing the eye immediately.
And the originality of someone crying their way out of a hole is nicely original. It works on its own, but it could also be used as a metaphor for mourning, or just feeling sad and feeling your feelings.
Azul Lopez’s work has won a number of awards (including the 2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Award), and I know I’ll be on the lookout for more of it.