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I don't review books I don't like!

*****= An all-time favorite
****  = Outstanding
***    = Above average
**      = Enjoyable
*        = Good, with reservations

cover

**Davey's Blue-Eyed Frog

by Patricia Harrison Easton

Illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
 

Reviewed May 15, 2003.
Clarion Books, New York, 2003.  92 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF EAS).

What happens when a third grade boy finds a frog who claims to be a princess and wants him to kiss her?  Well, he certainly doesn’t do it in a hurry.  He doesn’t kiss girls and he doesn’t kiss frogs.  Instead, he decides to show all his friends his new talking frog.  When the frog tries to foil his plans and keep quiet, he knows she doesn’t have a chance.  Girls never stop talking for long!

Here’s a fun story for kids ready for a chapter book.  Like so many of my favorites, it’s a clever twist on a familiar fairy tale.  It’s simple and short and geared for younger readers.  I enjoy a meatier tale myself, but this one did make a fun half-hour’s reading.  It’s perfect for its intended audience, kids ready for chapter books but not quite ready to plow through stories of Redwall.

Again, I have to stress that my star system is a rating of how much I enjoyed the book, not an unbiased estimate of how well it reaches its intended audience.  I don’t often review books in this particular niche, since it’s hard to make easy-reading chapter books interesting to children and adults.  I enjoyed this one, since it fell into my favorite category of twisted fairy tales.  For kids at this reading level, between picture books and full-fledged novels, this book will be a real treat.  The next time a parent comes into the library saying that their child’s second-grade teacher is requiring him to bring in a chapter book, Davey’s Blue-Eyed Frog will be one of the first ones I suggest. 

Copyright © 2003 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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