How to Hold a Crocodile [Hardcover]

Diagram Group (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2003

Practical instructions for off-beat objectives.

How to Hold a Crocodile is an illustrated and fun-to-read guide to the practical information that is not taught in school. This book is jammed full of simple instructions for many situations in life. Need to roast an ox? Repel cavalry? Tie a bow tie? All instructions are here, clear, concise, and fully illustrated.

This remarkable reference book explains how to:

• Build a log cabin
• Catch a cockroach
• Magnetize a walnut
• Play the castanets
• Ride a dolphin
• Drill for oil
• Meet the Pope
• Find a blind spot
• Become a saint

Hard-earned experience spanning many cultures and centuries leads to creative advice and counsel. Want to prevent a nail from splitting wood? Simply wipe the nail on soap before hammering.

The off-beat retro artwork and text is fun and engaging. How to Hold a Crocodile is an amazing collection of information, advice, tips, and instructions guaranteed to entertain and satisfy anyone's curiosity.

(20031108)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A how-to guide that offers at least as much browsing pleasure as it does practical advice, this colorful volume is sure to please those who love weird facts and unusual tidbits of information. With 188 brief, instructive and illustrated entries on natural oddities, mathematical formulas, rules of etiquette and handy skills, this compendium offers readers tips on everything from silly tricks (how to make an egg swim, tell a Zebra from a Zubra, recognize the Queen of England's swans and make hand shadows) to useful talents (how to count in roman numerals, calculate compound interest, repair a flat bicycle tire and ease a backache). Based on everyman's history, kitchen science and a goofy sense of humor, this motley collection will raise eyebrows, encourage wry smiles and maybe even teach a whole new generation how to make something used by WWII soldiers in the North African desert: a camel dung cigarette lighter.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A hodgepodge of fun and useful information. (Susan Swagler Birmingham News 20041128)

Amiable compendium... colorful illustrations are simple but effective, and so are the step-by-step instructions. (Henry Kiso Chicago Sun-Times 20031207)

Unique book... full of wacky facts and bizarre information... perfect for anyone, young and old, who loves trivia. (Ann Byle Grand Rapids Press 20031130)

Full of oddball practical tips... dubious historical information... outdated social etiquette... and tricks of various kinds. (Natural History 200312)

The ultimate how-to book... an entertaining reference for anyone interested in, well, anything and everything. (Pamela Klaffke Calgary Herald 20031019)

Skim'n'skip curio is perfect... for long sojourns on the john. (Toronto Star 20040613)

Provocative... a storehouse of useful information here, as well as some not quite so useful -- but you never know. (Ann Lloyd Merriman Richmond Times-Dispatch )

This my favorite type of book to recommend to reluctant readers because it will hold everyone's attention. (Linda Baum Taylor Sunday News Herald )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books; 2nd edition (September 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552978052
• ISBN-13: 978-1552978054
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 196 Pages of Chock Full of FUN and INTERESTING Facts, December 25, 2003

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Hardcover)

This book is packed with really fun and interesting things to know. Want to know how you break a thread in a sealed bottle? Use the glass as a magnifying glass to burn through it. How do you photograph a fish in a fish tank and keep it from swimming away? Put a sheet of glass behind the fish and trap it near the front of the tank. How do you put a whole pear in a bottle? Tie an empty bottle to a branch and let the pear grow inside the bottle.

How do you play fox and geese, hex, tlachtli, ringo, pachisi, nyout, conkers, and so on? What do the signal flags on a ship mean? How do you tame a tarantula? How do you fire a cannon? How do you figure out when Easter is? There are lots and lots more including some things that most folks think they know such as how to mount a horse, and there are some things I would not recommend such as putting poppy seeds in your shoes so that you can walk unnoticed among people to whom you owe money.

So how do you hold a crocodile? You grab it behind the head with one hand and underneath its legs with your other hand. The catch is that crocodiles grow very rapidly and soon it will become too big to hold. Then you may want to have read page 9 so you know how to RUN from a crocodile.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How do they pick these items?, October 19, 2006

By 

Vespucci (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Hardcover)

You know these guys are creative when they are selecting items for their book that even the reader himself did not think he really had to know. Now I know that if I hang up a broom then the bristles won't fall off. I know the proper technique for hammering home a nail.

The book is an eclectic mix of items that are really useful (see above)and fun items that one can just file away under "interesting minutiae." The ordering of the how-to's holds the readers attention well and the illustrations are not just well-drawn but very clever.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun answer book to some practical questions, April 3, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Hold a Crocodile (Hardcover)

Of a lighter tone is The Diagram Group's How To Hold A Crocodile, which provides a fun answer book to some practical questions on handling wildlife; from handling a hamster or crocodile to measuring a horse. In all fairness, wildlife isn't all that's covered here - this all-encompassing 'how to Bible' includes tips on playing bagpipes, measuring humidity, surrendering, and more.