Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.

WABER, Bernard.

Item Number: 133225

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.

Later printing of this classic work. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author with a drawing of a crocodile opposite the title page, “To Adam and Matthew Bernard Waber.” Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon signed.

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, Loretta, and he has him thrown in the zoo. 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, is declared a hero, and thus is allowed to stay with the Primms. It is the basis for the 1987 animated musical film and the 2022 film directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon.