1. Adventure stories
2. Camping
3. Crocodiles
4. Family
5. Literacy
6. Northern Territory
7. Readers
8. Safety
9. Storytelling
10. Wildlife

'Croc Bait' is about a small Aboriginal boy named Sean, who is on a fishing camp with his extended family, members of which keep telling him that he is too young to go with them. One morning, very early, while everyone else is sleeping, Sean makes the decision to go to the river by himself.

Nearly everyone in Sean’s family had a nickname. Uncle Chris is called Whistler. Uncle Luke is called Spook. But Sean is just Sean – until the time they camped down at Black Bull Yard. So begins the story of Sean and how he earned his nickname after an unexpected encounter with a crocodile.

This chapter book is illustrated in black and white and clearly depicts Sean’s adventure. An ‘easy-to-read’ book for beginning readers, some pages introduce slightly more difficult words such as climbed, carefully, wriggle and narrowed. Children would enjoy such descriptions as ‘it was a warm, fat little human’, while learning that crocodiles jump.

Leonie Norrington was born in Darwin and grew up at Barunga community in southern Arnhem Land. She was brought up within a mixed culture environment with Aboriginal stories and issues surrounding her. She writes in a mix of English, Kriol and Language and her stories reflect the life she lives.

Series: Solos

1. Leonie Norrington & Beth Norling: Teacher’s Book Notes http://www.scool.scholastic.com.au/schoolzone/toolkit/assets/pdfs/croc_bait.pdf
2. Leonie Norrington, a short memoir ''Old Women's Business: Indigenous Story and Cultural Resilience' IN Griffith Review 42 , 10pp https://www.griffithreview.com/wp-content/uploads/Griffith-REVIEW-Edition-42.pdf
3. Indigenous Literacy Project. Bibliography of books with an Indigenous Australian author or illustrator (or both), or feature strong Indigenous themes https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/site/user-assets/docs/indigenousbooklist2009.pdf
4. Ten Things You Need to Know about Leonie Norrington. Book People by Megan Daley https://childrensbooksdaily.com/book-people-leonie-norrington/