''Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile'' is a children's book written by

Bernard Waber Bernard Waber (September 27, 1921 – May 16, 2013) was an American children's author most famous for the books ''The House on East 88th Street'' (1962), ''Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile'' (1965) and the subsequent books in the ''Lyle'' series. Backgro ...

first published in 1965. It is the sequel to ''

The House on East 88th Street ''The House on East 88th Street'' is a children's book written by Bernard Waber first published in 1962. The book is the first in the ''Lyle the Crocodile'' series. The story is about a family named the Primms who move into an old Victorian br ...

'', published in 1962. The book is the second in the ''Lyle the Crocodile'' series, which follows the life of Lyle, a city-dwelling

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

who lives in a Victorian brownstone with the Primms family.

Plotline

The story begins with Lyle and Mrs. Primm going shopping and running into their neighbor, Mr. Grumps. The grouchy Mr. Grumps finds Lyle a nuisance because Lyle scares his

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, Loretta, and Mr. Grumps has him thrown in the

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

. When Lyle is freed by his old performing partner Mr. Valenti, they go back to the house on 88th Street, where they find Mr. Grumps' house on fire. Lyle rescues Mr. Grumps and Loretta, is declared a hero, and thus is allowed to stay with the Primms, and is warmly accepted by Mr. Grumps and Loretta.

Adaptations

An animated musical adaptation of ''Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile'' aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on November 18, 1987. The special is also a part of the

HBO Storybook Musicals ''HBO Storybook Musicals'' is a series of television specials that aired on HBO, combining animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are dra ...

lineup. A live-action/animated feature film adaptation was released on October 7, 2022, by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

and is directed by

Will Speck and Josh Gordon Will Speck (born December 31, 1969) and Josh Gordon are an American filmmaker duo who generally work in the comedy genre. They have directed six feature films together. Their accolades include an Academy Award nomination. Speck and Gordon me ...

. Like the animated special, it is a musical, with original songs written for this film by the songwriting team of

Pasek and Paul Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. While Pasek usually writes lyrics and Paul usually writes music, they share credit fo ...

, who also served as executive producers. Canadian singer

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes ( , ; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer. He gained a following in 2013 when he posted song covers on the video-sharing platform Vine (software), Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manage ...

voices Lyle who cannot talk but can sing.

References

Children's fiction books Children's books adapted into films American picture books 1965 children's books Children's books about crocodilians Columbia Pictures franchises Sony Pictures franchises {{child-picture-book-stub