The Frog Prince [Hardcover]

Kathy-Jo Wargin (Author), Anne Yvonne Gilbert (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

The Brothers Grimm as retold by Kathy-Jo Wargin and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert.

This Brothers Grimm tale of a spoiled princess finding her handsome prince by breaking a witch's spell has enchanted readers since it was written in the early 1800s. Children will delight in the princess' distaste as she shares her meal and bed with the slimy, green frog. With richly elegant illustrations, Anne Yvonne Gilbert brings Kathy-Jo Wargin's retelling of the classic to a new generation of readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Intricate, gloriously lush illustrations highlight this retelling of the familiar tale. Wargin has preserved much of the tone of the original text while editing the length to make it more palatable for younger audiences. Gilbert perfectly captures the princess' conflicting emotions as she struggles with her revulsion for the frog even as she acknowledges that she must fulfill her end of the bargain. Visual elements emphasize particular story details. The text is printed in a lovely deep green, matching the frog theme, for instance. The brevity of the text makes for some abrupt transitions. Readers may wonder at the sudden appearance of the prince's servant, Faithful Henry, for example. And there will certainly be questions about why the witchy princess, who throws the frog at a wall, deserves him when he is revealed as a prince, but this does conform to the original Grimm brothers story. Carton, Debbie

Review

Foreword Magazine, 2007 "Princess, dear princess please open the door, for you made a promise you must not ignore!" After retrieving a ball from a well for the princess, the frog calls out to her, for she has ignored the promise she made to him. He persistently, much to the distain of the princess, persuades her to allow him to eat from her plate, enter her room and sleep in her bed. At each poetic request from the frog, the princess becomes increasingly uncomfortable, but her father, the king, admonishes her and orders her to keep her promise to the frog that befriended her. Finally, in desperation, the princess flings the old water-splasher angrily against the wall. In true keeping with fairytales, the spell cast upon him by a wicked witch is broken, and the frog is transformed into a handsome prince.

Kathy-Jo Wargin has woven her literary magic in a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale. It is a treasure to be collected by princesses and princes everywhere. The book speaks its own language of love; the gentle, firm guidance of a father, promises kept, (difficult as they may be), and the belief that persistence pays off. Wargin is the author of The Legend of Sleeping Bear, Win One for the Gipper, and The Legend of the Loon, which won the International Reading Association Children's Choice Award. As evident by her books, she enjoys writing about nature and its impact on people's lives.

Internationally acclaimed artist and illustrator, Anne Yvonne Gilbert, lives in England and has exhibited in galleries throughout the world. Billy Joel's lullaby, Goodnight, My Angel, is among her illustrated works. Her watercolor paintings of vibrant jewel tones, exquisite attention to detail, and the flowing gowns, tendrils and crowns in Frog Prince transport the reader to days gone by.

Frog Prince will be certain to entertain and delight young and old as they read a story about doing the right thing and learning that when they do, good things will happen. This version is destined to join one's fairytale collection. Princesses and princes from about three to six years of age will enjoy having Frog Prince read to them, and those from six to twelve will enjoy reading it themselves. Promises are intended to be kept, even by princesses! -- Foreword Magazine 2007

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Ann Arbor Editions (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587262797
• ISBN-13: 978-1587262791
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,012,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars High hopes dashed by odd turn in story., April 10, 2007

By 

Value Mommy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Frog Prince (Hardcover)

I really looked forward to receiving this book, as I had been looking for a beautifully illustrated version of the Frog Prince for a while. This one really seemed to fit the bill until a very unfortunate turn in the story. I'm the first to admit that I don't know if this is the original telling. However, I do not remember the frog turning into a prince after the princess "smashes" him into the wall. I was reading the story happily--princess loves ball, plays with ball, ball falls into well, frog offers to help, princess promises to love frog forever and let him live with her, frog retrieves ball, princess breaks her word, king makes princess keep her word, princess begrudgingly lets frog sleep in her bed, princess throws frog "against the wall with a mighty SMASH"--errr, I'm sorry, what was that last part?

"The princess became furious over having to share her room and her bed, and could not take it any longer. In a burst of anger she reached down and grabbed the frog firmly in her fist and hollered, 'Now you will be quiet you horrible frog!' and threw him against the wall with a mighty SMASH. But when he fell he was no longer a frog but a handsome young prince with kind and beautiful eyes."

(next page spread) "The king was happy as the two were wedded for life."

Well, I know that there are often uncomfortable parts in the old fairy tales (grandmothers and little piggies getting eaten by wolves, poisoned apples, etc.). However, I don't remember this little fit and I'm not comfortable with a book that has someone being rewarded for poor and violent behavior. Usually the morals of fairy tales are the opposite, with goodness and decency winning out in the end. In my old version of this tale, the princess found that the frog grew on her in the process of her keeping her promise and it was a kiss that turned him into a prince, not a violent outburst spawned by a temper tantrum.

I just wanted to caution other parents of this content. If this is the original and what you're looking for, have at it. The illustrations are quite lovely. I'm kind of tempted to take some white out and a Sharpie to it to change that page to my liking. Ha Ha

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully-illustrated tale but some caution needed, May 1, 2010

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Frog Prince (Hardcover)

My 5-year-old daughter loves the classic fairy tales and never gets tired of reading or listening to these tales. As a result, I'm always scouring bookstores, the library, and the internet for the re-telling of fairy tales, and we both enjoy reading the multiple interpretations of classic fairy tales.

When my daughter saw this book at the library recently, she immediately picked it up and asked if we could check it out. I was taken by the attractive cover, and upon flipping through the book, thought the illustrator, Anne Yvonne Gilbert, has done an excellent job in bringing this tale to vivid life with her attention to detail and the beautiful colors used. But then we read the story together tonight, and I was rather taken aback by the way the story ended.

Grimm's Fairy Tales are not very pleasant to read, especially in their original, unedited and unabridged form. Here, though the story has been retold, the ending is quite faithful to the original - the spoiled young princess smashes the poor frog against the wall! And how is she rewarded for this cruel act? The frog transforms into a handsome young prince and the pair get married and live happily ever after! To be fair, the author, Kathy-Jo Wargin, has remained faithful to the original tale. Unfortunately, parents reading this story to young children may find themselves in the difficult position of having to explain the princess' actions and how her cruel act goes unpunished/unaddressed. My 5-year-old appeared bewildered when we read this part together, and she was especially concerned about the frog - "How was it the frog was uninjured?" "Why was the Princess being so mean?", and "Doesn't the Princess get a time-out for throwing the poor frog against the wall?"

Based on my own experience, I would advice parents and teachers to be aware of this "violent" bit in the story prior to reading the book, and perhaps be more prepared in addressing the inevitable questions arising as a result. The illustrations on the other hand,are excellent and make this a wonderful picture book, especially for collectors.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful illustration, but not the story, February 21, 2010

By 

Elise (plt) (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Frog Prince (Hardcover)

The illustrations are really, really nice, realistic, and well informed by art history. The story is well informed by folklore, and it has a disturbing twist.It is one of the versions of the prince who was turned into frog and than freed by a princess.I know, some people like the folklore pure, but keep in mind that the stories were not necessary always meant to be for small children, but for older children and adults who were believing in the supernatural quite often as much as children did. Yes, fairy tales were believed to be true by illiterate peasants through centuries. And anyway, people than didn't necessary were paragons of nice parents, life was quite cruel. This is just a short remark about realities of living and the role of such tales in peoples' lives, I don't want to analyze it there in depth, you fill the blanks yourself. Just because something was told in folklore stories, doesn't make it automatically suitable for children of today. Grimm's brother opus itself was a piece of ethnography feeding adult tastes for folk curiosities, which tastes were fueled by the thinkers of the Romantic era. the same like Hans Christian Andersen's stories were mean for adults, than became a staple stories for children. If we don't take this is account, we have stories which are to harsh for kids.So, it happens here.

One thing is also frogs are kept as pets today.Anything which is talking of less than humane treatment, in my opinion is not appropriate for children.Yes, adults can explain, by why to write stories which need long explanations in the first place, why not to write something more appropriate. Common sense in children story writing.Frog held by its leg between two fingers? Kids need to be instructed how to handle animals gently, I don't applaud book which shows such clumsiness. It is thoughtless.

Bad story abut bad princess.The princess has temper tantrum and throws the frog against the wall. The prince regains human form, yes, but keep in mind that children do not have ability to think abstractly yet. Anything which like in this story relating to a living creature in a cruel way (frog is described as ugly, it is OK for a princess to throw an animal against the wall). So, the moral is that the bad temper is rewarded, and animal cruelty is OK. This is what happens when someone follows folklore slavishly. Keep in mind that in old Europe there was a lot of animal cruelty, a lot of it based on superstitions, frogs were part of superstitions also. I don't think we need to revive such stories in such old way.

I need to give credit to the illustrator that she did great job portraying the animal as a living being, often sad, and the illustrations soften the harshness of the story. The job the illustrator has done is amazing, details, the costumes, very skilled rendition. This is a good art to expose children to at early age. But not the story, which I can't recommend, but also warn against.