Adrian Beck (text) and Dean Rankine (illustrator), Make it Snappy! (Brock the Croc #2), Larrikin House, April 2025, 200 pp., RRP $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780648894599
This is the second book in the Brock the Croc series and continues the madcap adventures of the residents of Saltbush Swamp. Brock is the leader of the gang and they all look up to him when disaster strikes.
Mayor Grunter is out to destroy the swamp, pour lots of concrete in it and build on the site. She and her off-sider, Slim Jim, create a fleet of Grunt-bot robots to ingratiate themselves into the swamp community. Then they can be reprogrammed to infuriate and subsequently destroy the animals which live in the swamp. But they can also combine to form the terrifying Robo-Grunter, a monster robot which destroys everything in its path. And when Robo-Grunter merges with Robo-Jim, the terrifying Gruntzilla goes on the rampage.
How this all unfolds is told with different fonts, speech bubbles and ordinary text. Dean Rankine’s black-and-white illustrations are just right for the humour, toilet jokes and energy of the plot, decorating every page and incorporating much of the text. The whole package is totally ridiculous and over-the top but should appeal to newly independent readers, especially reluctant ones deterred by more traditional layouts.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
