Customer Reviews

The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth: A Novel of the Sea

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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This was one of my favorite children's books when I was growing up. The book has excellent illustrations. This particular book is divided into several short stories that can stand on their own, or read as one story.

A young alligator leaves his Aunt to find his uncle by the sea. His uncle tells him stories of when he was young and sailed on a ship.

I highly recommend this book.

I wish that more of Geoffery Hayes books were in print. I love his drawings of bears, but The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth is an all time fave! I read it at least every couple of years. I LOVE Bear by Himself, too, but was disappoited in the reprint. I liked the older pictures so much more. Please reprint his books especially this one!

The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth : A Novel of the Sea is a beautifully written book...Hayes' prose is lyrical and mystical. The characters really come alive and are universal in their appeal to children. Bring it back into print!

My mother used to read this to me, and I've read it several times since then (I'm now 30). Although not as well known as other children's books, The Alligator and His Uncle Tooth is absolutely one of my favorites. Hayes' writing is delightfully descriptive, and he incorporates easily digestible elements of fantasy, adventure, and mystery into this story about a boy alligator full of curiosity and ambition that isn't content with the humdrum of normal alligator life. This story still stirs my desires to leave everything behind and explore the world.

N. C.
Grades 6, 7, & 8 Public Middle School Teacher

Yes I admit it. I stole this book from my daycare center when I was around 7. I loved this book and I would read it every chance I got. And now as a full grown adult and a degreed librarian, I still have that original book. The hard back spine is nearly off of it but I still have it. When I book talk this books to kids I bring out my disreputable broken copy and tell them how I felt and still feel about the adventures and freedom that I found within it's pages. My favorite line is from the last page of the chapter where Corduroy first actually talks to his uncle tooth. It goes something like this: "As the day did dark things outside, His uncle tooth puffed on his pipe, and from the rings of smoke came mists of memory." That may not be an exact transcription but it's darn close and is just an example of the wonderful language about a little boy, his uncle and the magic of the sea.

I highly recommend this book and I wish it was still in print.

I loved this book as a child. I'm so glad I kept it so I can share it with my children! It is a truly wonderful book, and I agree that it should be brought back into print!

I first read this book when I was seven years old. I loved the way that the book drew me into identifying with the young hero of the story. Cordoroy is a young alligator living a narrowly confined existance filled with aunts, uncles, cousins who just love routine and dare not explore anything beyond the big house they all live in. Cordory just doesn't fit into that dull life. He dreams of the sea and it's mysteries, the adventure that awaits beyond it's shores, and the courage it would take to step out and see the larger world! One day he leaves the lifeless Alligator House behind to stay with an aged aunt who lives by the seashore... and from there, his entire life changes.
Meeting an old crusty sea captain, who turns out to be his own uncle Tooth, Cordoroy realizes his dreams...
(no spoilers here though)
The illustrations are charming, the story well-written, and the ending extremely satisfying for those who are still young enough at heart to be dreamers. This is a book written for elementary school aged children. My daughter is younger than that, but I read the book to her and she follows the story easily.
No matter how much time passes, I still am in love with this "Novel of the Sea"! It is highly recommended...