Once There Was a Bull-Frog: 10th Anniversary Edition [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Rick Walton (Author), Greg Hally (Illustrator)

Book Description

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of this best-selling Rick Walton Language Arts book!
Once there was a Bull...(Frog) is an endearing story of a frog who lost his hop. He looks for it everywhere: under a toad...(stool), behind a dog...(house), and under a hedge...(hog), but it's nowhere to be found. He has a cow...(boy) throw him high in the sky, but he lands in a field of straw...(berries). Thanks to a diamond...(back rattlesnake), he regains his hop.
This fast-paced story is just the right length for two-year-olds, yet has enough humor and clever surprises for eight-year-olds. But everyone will delight in this creative tale. They'll "jump" at the chance to trick adults who aren't wise to the wordplay and picture surprises on each page.
Rick Walton is the author of dozens of books for kids, including his popular books introducing language arts concepts: Why the Banana Split, Herd of Cows Flock of Sheep, and Suddenly Alligator. Rick and his family live in Provo, Utah.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A good idea never quite gets off the ground in this outing, in which compound words are split for comic surprises. On page one, for example, a picture of a spiraling oxtail is captioned, "Once there was a bull..."; turn the page, and the tail becomes a long pink tongue and the sentence concludes, "...frog who had lost his hop." Bullfrog goes searching for his hop "under a toad... stool" and "in a patch of grass... hoppers," but cannot leap until he encounters a "diamond... back rattlesnake looking for breakfast." Walton's most amusing moment may be Bullfrog's statement, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse... fly." The story is never more than banal, but could easily lend itself to a high-energy, read-aloud. The book's design is as straightforward as its plot; undulating lines of hand-drawn text caption square paintings of Bullfrog's adventures. Debut illustrator Hally layers what look to be multicolored pastels on a grainy surface, forgoing precise detail for a slightly unconventional, impressionistic effect. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-8. Noteworthy for its clever design, this amusing tale about a bullfrog searching for his lost hop illustrates how art and placement of text can affect a reader's perception of a story. By splitting the compound word at the end of the last line of text on the right-hand page ("He landed hard in a patch of grass ... " ) and strengthening the image with an illustration (a picture of a grassy field), Walton encourages readers to guess what will appear on the following page. But a flip of the page always reveals something quite different from what is expected (grasshoppers leaping into the air). Younger children may need an adult to point out the visual clues, but most kids will quickly catch on to the pattern and enjoy predicting what's to come. In addition to the obvious tie with lessons on compound words, this could be used to inspire students to do some creative writing of their own. Lauren Peterson --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith; 10 edition (November 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586858629
• ISBN-13: 978-1586858629
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,403,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My child loves to finish the second half of the words, September 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Once there was a bull...frog (Paperstar Book) (Mass Market Paperback)

Great concept for a book. My 2 year old daughter loves to finish the second half of the words, and she's so pleased with herself for remembering what each thing turns out to be. I was attracted to the book by its wonderful illustrations and it's western, kind of twangy, look. Excellent book for girls and boys both.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative design coupled with active writing!, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Once There Was A Bull . . . (frog) (Hardcover)

Hedgehogs, ladybugs, and cowboys cross the path of a bullfrog searching for his lost hop in this colorful journey through the Old West, where nothing appears as it seems. The creatively designed tale integrates illustrations and text placement to continuously keep the reader expecting the unexpected. Walton crafts an interactive picture book that encourages readers to guess what will appear on the following page. For instance, he separates the final word in each sentence, such as "He looked under a hedge..." and designs an illustration to accompany the image like a representation of a hedge; yet, a turn of the page reveals a hedgehog sitting in the desert--a surprising completion to the image and compound word! The full-color illustrations use pirmay color shading rather than detail to expound on and compliment the easy flow of the text. The storybook paces itself with a single action per page supported by the clever artisitic impressions. Young readers, as well as young children with parental assistance, quickly catch onto the text pattern, attending to the endless possibilites of what may come next in the bullfrog's search for his hop. This page-turing journey of the bullfrog provides an opportunity for an interactive, high-energy read aloud as a whole class activity or as a shared reading between parent and child.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compound Words, May 18, 2008

By 

J. Toth "First Grade Teacher" (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once there was a bull...frog (Paperstar Book) (Mass Market Paperback)

Calling all elementary teachers looking for a cute book on compound words! This one is great. I've created a work center aound the book where children make a flap book to show each word in a compound word seperately and illustrated then together as one word then illustrated. My first graders love it! You could also make a class book fashioned after this one with other compound words.