Sniffles, the Crocodile and Punch, the Butterfly

Author: Herminder Ohri

Illustrator: Herminder Ohri

In the swamp on the far side of the Far Forest, lived Sniffles, the Crocodile. Sniffles was always crying big crocodile tears or going sniff... sniff... Even his mom was quite tired of him and would say, “Stop snivelling and crying, start behaving like a crocodile. Go hunt for your food.”

But Sniffles would burst into tears at the thought of eating another animal. So mom and dad had to feed Sniffles every day.

Sniffles did not want to be a crocodile. 'I am so ugly,' he thought, bursting into tears. He did not even want to live like crocodiles do. His best friend was Punch, a golden yellow butterfly. And Punch wanted to be big and strong. So Punch always had her feeler curled into a fist saying, “Look out! I will punch you in the mouth.”

They made a very funny pair. Sniffles swimming with Punch perched on his head. The other crocodiles would laugh and make fun of them. That did not bother Sniffles. He continued crying, sniffling and being friends with Punch.

One sunny afternoon, Punch settled herself near Sniffles’ ear and told him, “I have seen two men come this way with guns, they want to kill crocodiles for their skins.”

“Don’t these men have skins of their own?” asked a puzzled Sniffles.

“I don’t know Sniffles,” replied Punch. “Tell the other crocodiles and hide.”

“But Punch, they might shoot you. Oh! What will I do,” cried Sniffles sobbing loudly.

“People catch butterflies with nets and pin them on a board, my grandaunt told me,” said Punch and flew away.

The other crocodiles heard Sniffles crying and shouting, “Men coming to kill us. Hide ... Hurry ... Hide.” At first the crocodiles did not believe Sniffles, but then they heard the men’s footsteps.

The crocodiles went deep into the river and left some rotten logs floating on the water. The men shot at the logs which looked like crocodiles from afar. The men could not see any crocodiles, only hundreds of butterflies that flew into their faces and hair.

Shaking their heads and trying to brush off the butterflies they said, “There are no crocodiles here, we will bring nets and catch the butterflies.” And off they went. All the crocodiles got together and said, “Thank you, Punch.”

“Thank you, butterflies.”

The next day Sniffles saw men with nets. He remembered Punch telling him about nets. “Punch, the nets! Come here quick! The men with the nets have come.” All the crocodiles came on the river bank. The butterflies settled on the backs and heads of the crocodiles.

A few of the crocodiles made a circle around the men as they came close. The crocodiles snapped their jaws. Sniffles was in front, gnashing his teeth and whipping his tail around most menacingly.

The men were so frightened that they took to their heels and ran right out of the swamp. The other crocodiles were very proud of Sniffles, as he had acted like a real crocodile. Now Sniffles was also proud to be one.

All the butterflies flew around the crocodiles, fluttering their wings.

“Thank you, Sniffles, Thank you, crocodiles.”

“It is all right,” said Sniffles shyly. “That is what friends are for, to take care of each other.”

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Story Attribution:

This story: Sniffles, the Crocodile and Punch, the Butterfly is written by Herminder Ohri . © Pratham Books , 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:

This book has been published on StoryWeaver by Pratham Books.'Sniffles, the Crocodile and Punch, the Butterfly' has been published by Pratham Books in partnership with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes books in multiple Indian languages to promote reading among children. www.prathambooks.org

Illustration Attributions:

Cover page: Crying Crocodile along lakeside , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Crying Crocodile seeing another crocodile eat fish , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Crying Crocodile seeing another crocodile eat fish - 1 , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Crying Crocodile looking at a Butterfly , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Crying Crocodile looking at a Butterfly - 1 , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Crying Crocodile looking at a Butterfly, Butterly flying , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: Crying Crocodile looking at a Butterfly, Butterly flying - 1 , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Crocodile covering eyes as men fire guns , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Many Butterflies flying above Crocodiles , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Crying Crocodile looking at Men with nets , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Crocodile chasing men , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Illustration Attributions:

Page 12: Crocodile chasing men - 1 , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 13: Many Butterflies flying , by Herminder Ohri © Pratham Books, 2004. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sniffles, the Crocodile and Punch, the Butterfly (English)

What are friends for, if not to help each other? Even friends like Sniffles, the Crocodile and Punch, the Butterfly. A lovely story about two clever friends.

This is a Level 2 book for children who recognize familiar words and can read new words with help.

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