The Crocodile Under the Bed: The classic illustrated children’s book from the author of The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Product Information

When Matty is too ill to attend the Queen's birthday party with his family, the young boy is inconsolable, refusing to be comforted by any of his parents' suggestions for things he can do while home with his grandfather. Then a flying crocodile appears and escorts him to the birthday party of the leonine king of the beasts. Here he enjoys cake, and numerous fun rides provided by the animal guests... The only remaining ingredients ensuring Kerr's contentment and longevity are a brisk walk through Barnes Common every evening, a Martini Rosso with lunch and a whisky in the evening. "That's 14 units, that's all right!" July 2016 Judith Kerr wins a Book Trust Lifetime Achievement Award. She received the award at London Zoo, at a ceremony hosted by former Children’s Laureate and BookTrust President, Michael Morpurgo. Judith Kerr said: " I am honoured and delighted that I have been chosen to receive the BookTrust’s Lifetime Achievement Award. I thank them very much, and as the presentation is to be at London Zoo, I’ll also be able to thank the tigers in the tiger enclosure who started it all." Kerr is having none of it. "Well, you wouldn't snuggle the Gestapo, would you?" is her standard riposte. "I'm trying to think if I'm traumatised..." she says haltingly, taking a long pause after I ask if she will admit to there being any pain lurking behind her pictures. "No, I'm just hugely, hugely grateful for what I've had," she decides. "I mean, what more can you want – doing work that you love, a happy marriage, children, in a country at peace for 70 years?"

Kerr says of her father that he had "a great talent for happiness". It is another feature that has clearly been passed down. Matty uses the words ‘great’, ‘big’ and ‘enormous’ to describe the crocodile. Can you think of other words to describe a crocodile? Could you make a poster / display to share your words? The story is imaginative and teaches about different animal characteristics, the chimp that jumps and the snake who slides. This would be a great book to start an animal project on; describing characteristics of different animals. Judith Kerr was born in Berlin in 1923 but escaped from Hitler’s Germany with her parents and brother in 1933 when she was nine years old. Her father was a drama critic and distinguished writer whose books were burned by the Nazis, because he dared to speak out against the regime. The day after the family left Berlin, the authorities came to arrest them, and throughout the war there was a price on her father’s head. Judith and her family passed through Switzerland and France before finally arriving in England in 1936. Judith wrote about her experiences in her classic autobiographical story, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.Kerr's family experience also informs her views on the debate over whether to legalise assisted suicide. Her father had a stroke in 1948 and her mother provided the pills with which he ended his life a few weeks later. "Well, I'm all for it," she asserts. "In his case, he wouldn't even have been able to go to Dignitas because it wasn't life-threatening. I would extend it – I mean, Alzheimer's isn't life-threatening and you're supposed to go and be a burden to everybody and put up with this when you know that you're not there. I certainly have a stash of sleeping pills. Most people I know are over 80 and I think we all have, just in case – but, of course, you might not have time to take them. It is a very gloomy conversation..." Krokodil Karel heeft het te bont gemaakt. Hij wordt weggestuurd door zijn vriendjes. Héél ver weg, tot onder het bed van Lotje. Maar Lotje is niet bang! Dé klassieker voor de komende generaties - geheel herziene editie Wie is er niet groot mee geworden?

Look at the expressions of the characters in the illustrations. How are they feeling? Can you think of words to describe their emotions?

International

It is a status that continues to define her. "My mother, who was crazy about England, sort of behaved as if she was actually English. But she spoke with a slightly German accent. Once, she said, 'When we won the First World War...' Make a list of food and drink that you might need at a party. Calculate the total cost for different numbers of people. Judith won a scholarship to the Central School of Arts in 1945, and since then has worked as an artist, television scriptwriter and, for the past thirty years, as an author and illustrator of children’s books. Judith was married to the scriptwriter Nigel Kneale, who died in 2006, most famous for the hit sci‐fi series Quatermass. Her son is the writer Matthew Kneale who won the Whitbread Book Award for The English Passengers. Judith lives in south west London. Sinds het verschijnen van Er ligt een krokodil onder mijn bed! in 1980 hebben talloze kinderen hun angst voor het donker overwonnen met dit favoriete prentenboek.