One Frog Too Many

I grew up with Mercer Mayer's Boy, Dog , Frog series of picture books, another amazing illustrator. I remember going through the books over and over again and making up different stories for each time. That is the magic of wordless picture books, they incite the imagination and encourage the little ones who cannot read yet to sit down comfortably and confidently with a book and make out the story on their own.

Mercer and Marianna Mayer’s one frog too many is a cute wordless book about a boy with a dog, a frog and a turtle. He receives a gift, a box with tiny breathing holes and a big bow and gift card on top. The boy, the dog, the turtle and the frog all look very interested at what is inside the box. When the boy opens the box everyone is happy, except the frog. Inside the box is a baby frog, which is quickly accepted into the group by everyone except the old frog. The story continues with many incidences involving the jealous old frog trying to get rid of the new frog. When the old frog pushes the new frog off the river raft and gets rid of it for good, everyone is devastated. They all go home and sulk angrily and let their feelings be show more known to the old frog. The story ends happily as the new frog bounces through the boy’s open bedroom window and is accepted into the group by the old frog. The illustrations are simple pencil like drawings, but very detailed and provide plenty of visual information for the reader. This book can be used in bibliotherapy for a child who is having trouble with accepting changing dynamics in relationships (i.e. the new arrival of a baby). When comparing this wordless book to that of Pinkney’s The Lion & The Mouse, the most noticeable difference is the pictures themselves. Pinkney’s pictures are far superior and offer much more detail and color to enhance the story. However, the stories in both are meaningful and certainly helpful in teaching the importance of relationships and how to treat people. show less

Title: One Frog Too Many
Author: Mercer and Marianna Mayer
Genre: Children’s

Challenges: To Be Continued…Challenge, PB & J Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, What an Animal II, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, What An Animal III Challenge, 2nd Chance Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 32
Published: 1975


Back Cover: A Boy and his dog are playing in the woods. They meet a little frog. Will the old frog be nice to the new frog?


: This is a great new series (to me) and of course it has frogs in it, so how can I not read it?

Once again the illustrations can’t help but tell the wonderful show more story of how frog must learn to get along with another frog. He has difficulty as all things new with something different when they were the first. Frog pushes and prods the new frog until he gets lost and boy, dog and turtle look for him. They are awful upset with frog for making it difficult for the new frog. show less

This wordless picture book is appropriate for the grades pre-k, kindergarten and first grade. The book is very short with simple pictures that are to the point so that younger children can understand what is going on. Also the book deals with an issue younger children may face. The story begins with a young boy getting a new baby frog as a present. The old original frog the boy has becomes jealous of the younger frog. While riding a raft the older frog kicks the baby frog into the water and the boy goes home very upset. The central issue the book addresses is how children may become jealous of a new sibling or any new person in their life. Another central issue is how jealousy can end up hurting people.
Uses in classroom:
- After show more reading/interpreting the story talk about times that the children might have felt jealous and what ended up happening. Text to world connection is being used for this activity.
-How children can show that they are jealous or upset instead of being physical
-How we can be welcoming to any new comers in the classroom and list some ideas show less

A little boy with a turtle, dog, and frog gets a present. When he opens the box, it is a small frog. The frog he has is none too excited about the new frog. The older frog is mean to the little one; he bites its leg, he kicks him off the turtle, and finally he kicks him out of a boat. Once out of the boat, the dog and turtle alert the little boy that his other frog is gone. The boy and animals look all over for the new frog but can not find him. They go home and the little boy cries on his bed. Just then the new frog jumps through the window and lands on the older frog who has had a change of heart and cuddles with the new frog.

I liked this book, especially the illustrations. It seemed like the typical little boy with his animals.

I show more would use this with kindergarteners and have them draw a picture of their pets. If they don't have a pet, they can draw a picture of what pet they would want. show less

This is a great book for story sequencing and story maps. Students can look through the book and see what happens, the expressions, and infer what is happening.

I thought this was a good worldess book for kindergarten. It was about how we should be nice to our peers.