HOW TO CATCH A CROCODILE.

ByRobert Pack '51, with illustrations byNola Langner. New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1964. 36 pp. $3.25.

This is a gem of "read-to" story for the pre-school set. Poet Robert Pack has fashioned a simple tale that is just absurd enough to be accepted with delight by those three, four, and five-year-old lovers of the just absurd. The capture of a crocodile, as the title promises, is the chief concern of the narrative, but our hero, young Billy Bell, has a very original approach: he utilizes a sign that says TOOTHPICKS FOR SALE, a book that puts his father to sleep, binoculars, a tweezers, and a matchbox. The illustrations by Nola Langner keyed to the rhymed text are superb. The ending brought out my only negative reaction, corroborated by a three and a half-year-old reviewing assistant's opinion, that a boy clever enough to get a crocodile into a matchbox certainly would be equally enterprising in getting him out again. I might add that although this is an entertaining child's book - and handsomely printed - $3.25 does seem a mite dear.