A British author, an old children's book - Can anyone help ID?

MaryMary

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I've tried google off and on for years, trying to find the title of this book. I don't know if the book is too old, or if I'm plugging in too many details, or getting discouraged too quickly - but I cannot find the title of this book!! It was my favorite book when I was little. :love: It was not a sappy-happy book like the rest of them. :rolleyes:

Mom read it to me when I was about 3 or 4, so the book is at least 47 years old. She thought she remembered also reading it to my siblings, so it may be older than that. :unsure:

The two characters I am sure of - there was a crocodile by the name of Cromwell, and a ram named Rochester. (Rochester had a full, luxuriant beard which he was very proud of. The beard was blue... In fact, Rochester himself may have been blue.:unsure:.)

Other characters - Cromwell lived with a female crocodile, I think her name was Beatrice. (I don't think they were married. He was her... brother? Brother-in-law?) There was also a young "boy." (He was a bright blue monkey!) I don't remember his name. (Billy?) He fished, wore a fishing tackle bag around his waist, and chewed gum all the time, which (I think) was frowned on. :unsure:

Rochester was a postman and when he delivered the mail every day, Cromwell would watch him through the window, and talk about how much he wanted to eat him!! :eek: Beatrice (?) would always tell him no, partly because of the uproar it would cause, but also because then they wouldn't get any mail.:LOL:

One day, Cromwell couldn't stand it anymore!! He grabbed Rochester by the shoulders and tried to stick his head in his mouth!! :eek: Rochester's beard was pulled off, and Cromwell started choking on it!! (There was a very memorable illustration of Cromwell clutching his throat and turning blue, with a horrified Rochester gaping at his beard in Cromwell's throat.)

Billy (?) quickly cast a lure into Cromwell's mouth, snagged the beard, and pulled it out. He then used his gum to reattach the beard to Rochester's chin. (y)




I am sure it was a British author, because if it had been written by an American, it would have been Ralph, a goat who was a mailman. :rolleyes:



Please, does anyone know the title?? :notworthy: :notworthy:
 
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Hi @MaryMary, i am working on it. Yep Cromwell and Rochester are dead giveaways, although it could have been a Canadian author or an Australian (they are big on crocodiles) author. Was it a single book? Or in a collection of stories? Do you remember what the front cover looked like? It must have had illustrations in it, do you remember? We might be able to find the book via an illustrator easier than via an author.:)

Edited: Also in your searches you might use UK instead of British authors or illustrators. I covers a wider territory.
 
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MaryMary

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It was a single book. I can't remember what the jacket cover looked like, but the book had a cloth cover. (It was either red or green.)

The only illustrations I remember (other than above,) is one of Cromwell watching out the window. I can remember the monkey/boy. He always had a fishing pole, and I'm fairly sure he had a hat. :unsure:
 

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I've had a really good search via Google to try and find this book, but I can't find a thing :(.

You may have already tried this, but Google have a dedicated book search engine where you can plug in terms and it'll search everything it has:

https://books.google.co.uk/

I've tried things like the names, or combinations like "Cromwell the Crocodile". They are certainly old British sounding names, but I don't recognise the plot. I'll ask around and see if any of my friends recognise the story (y).
 

Ian

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It wasn't "Warwick's Three Bottles" was it? Published 1966:

Warwick's Three Bottles.jpg
 

MaryMary

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YES!!! Oh, Ian, thank you, thank you, thank you!! :love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

You can't hear me, so I must tell you, I am crowing with joy, and singing your praises! You are awesome, incredible, amazing, and wonderful!! :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy: Lots of other superlatives!!


How did you figure it out? :confused: I've tried so long!
 

MaryMary

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Even if he beat you to it, @Owdboggy, thank you, too. :)

I've been thinking about posting it here for at least a couple months now. I was half afraid to; you guys were my last real hope.

If no one here knew it, my only other option was to try to write it as a "new" story and wait to be accused of plagiarizing the book I wanted to know the title to!! :cautious: :ROFLMAO:

After checking it out, I see I had a few of the details wrong. :( 47 year old memories of a 3 year old... :rolleyes:
 
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