The House on East 88^th Street (Lyle Crocodile) by Bernard Waber (1962) Houghton Mifflin

This is the story of a performer and a crocodile that can do what other crocodiles don’t do.  The movie followed the book closely, plus embellishments to fill-out the time and give the main character a fuller story.  The family that moves into the apartment on East 88^th street is the same, and Lyle’s lovability is the same.  But the story in the book is much shorter.  Still, it makes me want to read the other books in the series.