Reviewed By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Have you ever broken a promise? You know how
much you hate it when someone promises you
something and then never comes through with that
vow. It really bugs you, doesn’t it?
In the new book Frog Prince by The Brothers Grimm,
retold by Kathy-Jo Wargin and illustrated by Anne
Yvonne Gilbert, a young princess makes a promise to
an icky old frog. When she ignores the frog, her father
makes her keep her word.
Once upon a time, there lived a king who had three beautiful daughters. The youngest
princess was the most beautiful of all.
Every day, the youngest princess would go down at the edge of a forest next to a cool well
of water. There, she would sit and toss a golden ball up in the air and she’d catch it. It
made her very happy.
But on the day that the golden ball fell into the deep well, the princess was very sad. She
began to cry, until she heard a voice. Looking up, she saw that the voice belonged to a
frog, so the princess asked the frog to return her golden ball. In exchange, she told the
frog that he could have anything he wanted. What he wanted was to come into the palace
and live with the princess, to eat off her plate and sleep on her bed. Ick!
But the princess agreed, and the frog retrieved the ball. Quickly, the princess ran away,
forgetting the frog and her promise. Later that night, though, there was a knock at the
door. It was the frog, and he came to collect on his end of the bargain.
The princess tried to ignore the slimy old frog, but when her father, The King, learned of
the promise, he made the princess honor her word. She brought the frog inside and
placed him on her chair (eeuw!). She let him eat off her plate (yuck!). She took him to bed
(ick!) and plopped him on her soft blankets (bleah!).
This all made the princess very angry. She grabbed the cold, slimy frog, threw him
against the wall with a loud SMACK, and got the surprise of her life.
Do you have royalty in your house? If you do, this book is a guaranteed princess-pleaser.
Author Kathy-Jo Wargin re-tells this classic Brothers Grimm story with some slightly new
additions that won’t ruin the tale for purists. The ending is one I hadn’t heard yet, which
was a nice surprise. But the absolute beauty of this book is in the illustrations by Anne
Yvonne Gilbert. Highly detailed and in softly lush colors, Gilbert’s color-pencil drawings
are almost worthy of framing, and their detail will appeal to the littlest princess as well as
fairy tale lovers ages 3 and up.
If you’ve ever wished for a handsome prince of your own, make a promise to yourself and
your kids that you’ll read The Frog Prince aloud soon. With the comfortingly familiar tale
and the incredibly gorgeous illustrations, this book is definitely fit for royalty.
princess was the most beautiful of all.
Every day, the youngest princess would go down at the edge of a forest next to a cool well
of water. There, she would sit and toss a golden ball up in the air and she’d catch it. It
made her very happy.
But on the day that the golden ball fell into the deep well, the princess was very sad. She
began to cry, until she heard a voice. Looking up, she saw that the voice belonged to a
frog, so the princess asked the frog to return her golden ball. In exchange, she told the
frog that he could have anything he wanted. What he wanted was to come into the palace
and live with the princess, to eat off her plate and sleep on her bed. Ick!
But the princess agreed, and the frog retrieved the ball. Quickly, the princess ran away,
forgetting the frog and her promise. Later that night, though, there was a knock at the
door. It was the frog, and he came to collect on his end of the bargain.
The princess tried to ignore the slimy old frog, but when her father, The King, learned of
the promise, he made the princess honor her word. She brought the frog inside and
placed him on her chair (eeuw!). She let him eat off her plate (yuck!). She took him to bed
(ick!) and plopped him on her soft blankets (bleah!).
This all made the princess very angry. She grabbed the cold, slimy frog, threw him
against the wall with a loud SMACK, and got the surprise of her life.
Do you have royalty in your house? If you do, this book is a guaranteed princess-pleaser.
Author Kathy-Jo Wargin re-tells this classic Brothers Grimm story with some slightly new
additions that won’t ruin the tale for purists. The ending is one I hadn’t heard yet, which
was a nice surprise. But the absolute beauty of this book is in the illustrations by Anne
Yvonne Gilbert. Highly detailed and in softly lush colors, Gilbert’s color-pencil drawings
are almost worthy of framing, and their detail will appeal to the littlest princess as well as
fairy tale lovers ages 3 and up.
If you’ve ever wished for a handsome prince of your own, make a promise to yourself and
your kids that you’ll read The Frog Prince aloud soon. With the comfortingly familiar tale
and the incredibly gorgeous illustrations, this book is definitely fit for royalty.
| The Frog Prince |
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