Winston & George

This picture book was about Winston, a crocodile, and a crocodile bird named George. George would always sit on top of Winston’s snout and tell him when there were fish below them. Winston would dive down, catch the fish, and then share the fish with George. But George was a silly bird who liked to play pranks on everyone: Winston, the other crocodiles, and the hippos. One day he played a very mean prank on Winston and made him dive down straight into mud! Winston got his snout stuck in the mud and if George did not go get help, he would drown. After much convincing and promising to let Winston eat him, the hippopotamuses and the other crocodiles helped save Winston. When Winston felt better, they all gathered around to watch as Winston ate George. But little did they all know that he was only pretending and George was safely in his mouth. George learned his lesson and did not play any more pranks on his good friend Winston.

I would use this book in my classroom to teach about friendship. This story exemplifies true friendship. Even though Winston thought George’s pranks were not as funny as he did, he still remained friends with him. When all of the hippopotamuses and the crocodiles told Winston to eat George, Winston did not fall to the peer pressure. This book could also be used to show how you should not play pranks or lie to others. There is a part of the story where George tells all the other crocodiles that danger is coming. They all panic to realize that George had been lying. When George told the other crocodiles that Winston was stuck in the mud, the other crocodiles did not believe him or want to help him. Children who read this book can see the dangers that come along with lying, playing pranks, or even exaggerating the truth. Lastly, I would use this book if we were to talk about animals. There are crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and crocodile birds to learn about through this book. Something that I loved was that in the back of the book it gives more information about crocodiles and crocodile birds. They explain their relationship and how they work with one another. The book gives great detail about where they are from, what they look like, and what they do to help one another. There is a lot of potential that this book would bring to a classroom. 

Winston & George

Author: John Miller

Illustrator: Giuliano Cucco

Year Published: 2014