Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Crictor by Tomi Ungerer
In honor of Tomi Ungerer and the current Three Robbers exhibit at The Rabbit Hole going on right now (to say nothing of their upcoming symposium celebrating The Three Robbers and Tomi’s legacy and featuring presenters from around the world on November 14 and 15, 2025), I thought it prudent to revisit Mr. Ungerer once more. And what better way to do so than to look at what may be one of his few books that has remained in print from Day One. A Reading Rainbow book and not something you’d hand to some someone with herpetophobia. We discuss some of Crictor’s inherent similarities to Lyle the Crocodile and Babar the Elephant. We also talk about O-shaped packages full o’ snake. You have been warned.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, Audible, Amazon Music, or your preferred method of podcast selection.
Show Notes:
The board book I gave to Kate, in case you’re curious, is Count to 10 and Back Again by Hui Skipp. And I’m quite fond of it:
Tomi Ungerer: A man unafraid to portray either guns or booze in a picture book.
This one goes out to Pipes in Kidlit.
Kate pointed out that while “Boa Constrictor” is written in English, inexplicably the other animals in this zoo are in French.
Should you ask yourself, “Hey. Was Tomi Ungerer one of those guys who eschewed the accurate positioning of knitting needles or not?” the answer is an unequivocal, “He got it right!!” Evidence? Voila!
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“I know very little about the peeing system of the snake.” So why is that chamber pot there? We literally have no clue. No clue at all.
No dog anus? We find that OFFENSIVE!
Surely I’m not the only person who views this Crictor-learns-letters sequence and is perturbed by the fact that the letters don’t spell anything out. This always grated on me…
The moon isn’t mad. It’s just disappointed.
Apart from anything else, Kate is right to point out that the old lady is a bit of an odd duck for wearing her shoes to bed.
Betsy Recommends: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (particularly the Young Reader’s Edition)
Kate Recommends: Dead Boy Detectives
Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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Enjoyed today’s show. A 5 and 6 rating for Ungerer seems a tad low. And personally I think Crictor is far better book than Babar. I reread Babar as an adult and the elephant poaching scene where Babar’s mom was killed was just brutal. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Ungerer documentary, Far Out Isn’t Far Enough. I highly recommend it. https://youtu.be/cQlWgnerTRc?si=skkXdGDImwh-_tH0 It’s very well done and Sendak and Feiffer make guest appearances. They have A LOT to say about Ungerer’s extra-curricular interests which got him blacklisted by the librarians in the 60s. On an aside, Ungerer’s editor I believe was Ursula Nordstrom. (So, if there are editorial inconsistencies in some of his books, I dare say one should cherchez the editor and not the author.)
p.s. Not 20 years ago, but what about a Birthday for Bear? Such a sweet book.
Oh, we will get to it. Have no fear!