Teresa Bateman

A big-mouthed frog hops around the rainforest near the border of Argentina and Brazil in this folktale retelling, bragging to every animal he meets—a toco toucan, a coati, and a capybara—about his skill at catching flies. When he meets a jaguar, and discovers that this new acquaintance likes to eats frogs(!), our acrine hero suddenly has no time for more bragging, high-tailing it home as fast as he can go...

An amusing story that highlights the foolishness of boasting, The Frog with the show more Big Mouth is apparently a retelling of a tale told to author Teresa Bateman while she was living in Argentina. For this reason I have categorized it as "Argentine folklore," although no further information is given as to source material. There is a similar folk story from the southern United States, The Wide-Mouthed Frog, but as to the relationship (if any) between the tales—do they have a common origin/ur story, did they originate separately, is one just a transplanted version of the other?—that I do not know, and have not been able to discover (although I'd love to find out). In any case, the tale related here is engaging, with a repetitive structure in which the frog praises himself, asks the animals he encounters about what they eat, and is then answered in rhyme. The accompanying illustrations from Will Terry are vividly colorful, and quite expressive, capturing the humor of the story. The book closes with some information about the animal species mentioned, offering a nice non-fictional counterpart to the fictional tale. Recommended to young folktale enthusiasts, and to anyone seeking froggy reading fare for the picture book set. show less

The message is fun, as are the cartoony illustrations. The rhyme bounces appropriately. But both me and my inner child are frustrated by all the poorly depicted details. For example, why did the king adopt stair-step girls, and where is the queen? Why don't they wear socks or stockings? Whatever happened to the king's desire to see them wedded to princes? Does the cobbler get a reward?

I totally respect the opinions of readers who liked it more than I did. And if you have a girl who is too show more caught up in pink princess stuff, you might want to read this with her. But it wasn't good enough for *me* to get more than two stars. show less

Patrick O'Kelley was a peddler with the gift of gab. It was said that when he kissed the Blarney Stone, a piece must have come off and got caught in his teeth, so great was his ability to spin a fantastic tale. But when O'Kelley boasted that he "could spout better Blarney than the king of the leprechauns himself," he soon learned that it was better not to anger the little people. Brought to the leprechauns' fabulous underground realm, he was given a beautiful emerald ring with a very unusual show more quality: it made its wearer speak only the truth. Unable to remove the magical "Ring of Truth," Patrick O'Kelley confronted the reality that his days of spouting Blarney were over. Or were they...?

Like her subsequent Fiona's Luck, in which a clever lass tricks the king of the leprechauns, Teresa Bateman draws upon Irish folklore to create this original tale. I have it on good authority that leprechaun-tales are far more popular with Irish-Americans, than with the Irish themselves, but this engaging tale will undoubtedly appeal to a wide variety of children. The illustrations by Omar Rayyan are done in watercolor, and have numerous references to illuminated manuscripts - decorative capital letters, gorgeous borders - while also resembling some of the fantasy art of Brian Froud, among others. show less

I'm not a fan of April Fools Day, but this story is a fun twist on it. Grandpa isn't falling for his grandchildren's attempts at fooling him, but Grandma has a surprise in store for him.

What I really like are the little associations between Grandpa's calm breakfast preparations and the farm animals the kids are claiming have broken loose from their pens: when they yell "cows," he pours milk; when they scream "chickens," he fries some eggs; and so on. What a fun and sly way to sneak in show more educational material. show less