When Mother Crocodile warns her children to swim away, they close their ears. Only later, in fact almost too late, do they realize the truth in her words. A cautionary Ovolof tale from Senegal, West Africa, illustrated with abstract drawings in a spectrum of underwater color can also be seen as a symbolic history. (Honor Book: CCBC Caldecott Straw Vote) (7-11 years)

Just because Mother Crocodile once snapped at Golo-the-Monkey for teasing her, he tells all the other animals she's crazy. The monkey even tells the little crocodiles, her children, who believe him. When a flock of crows warn of the coming war, and Mother Crocodile tells her children to flee, they close their ears, and she sadly leaves them behind to fend for themselves. Winner Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration.