Beware of the Frog

Delightfully wicked story in the tradition of Roald Dahl wherein a pet guard frog protects his mistress from such horrible creatures as a goblin, troll, and ogre. Each sings a little nonsense rhyme and each meets a terrible fate. A twist at the end may or may not be expected.
My one complaint is that sweet little Mrs. Collywobbles has four distinct windows on her house, and she moves from one to another, hiding from the monsters. But she only goes through three before the end of the story! I need either another monster or one fewer window!

I think that this story started off really well. This sweet little old lady owned a pet frog who protected her from bad things. The frog ate three creatures that meant to harm her. To repay the frog she gave him a kiss. Then she turned into a frog herself. That's when the story changed for me. She wasn't pleased with becoming a frog so she ended up eating her pet frog! That shouldn't be the thanks he gets for saving her life! It would be a fun read for your classroom library but I wouldn't focus on it much as a group.

Mrs. Collywobbles lives near a dark, scary wood - luckily she has a frog to protect her!

The patterns of the flowers in the field and the forests were really striking. It could almost be a bedspread, ha ha. Something that you'd buy at Ikea.

Mrs. Collywobbles gets visited by some mildly scary Ogres, trolls, etc., but her frog eats them. In the end, she kisses her frog and then turns into a frog herself. She's so mad about that she promptly eats her pet frog. (Mrs. Collywobbles the frog is pink with pearls and wears a sweet hat. Adorable.)

I loved the story, and I *spoiler alert!* loved how the various beasties were drawn, but the rest of the book was too stylized - I would have preferred a simple backdrop to such wackoneat monsters!

I always enjoy books that are clever, and make kids think on a deeper level, without them even knowing it. The illustrations in this book fit the text perfectly, and the text and scenarios make the young reader laugh.

Great read-aloud, great for inferencing, really good tool to help with compare
/contrast of similar tales (beacuse this shifts traditional paradigms on their head a little). Very creative. Great conversation starter.

summary: A story about a frog that protects a little old lady. The story kind of reminds me of a Little Red Riding Hood, with grandma at home. The story also has a unusual somewhat demented ending. There are several villians that try to come to get Mrs. Collywobbles; but her faithful frog protects her. The frog asks Mrs. Collywobbles for a kiss; and no prince appears. This story can be both fun for both children and adults. The text is easy and the repetion make it a fun read-aloud.

genre: picture book

personal response/ reflection
theme, concept or classroom use or connection. You may include particularly strong literary or visual elements found in work: A fun book to use, especially when teaching predictability. Students can predict show more what the ending may be like. I like that it has a very unusual ending. show less