The Wide-Mouthed Frog (A Pop-Up Book)

3.5 stars for this retelling of a traditional tale. The pop ups and illustrations are great, but the story needed just one or two more spreads to establish the pattern. The wide mouthed frog only asks two animals about what they eat before encountering the climactic alligator. Three or four would have been better to allow the reader/listener to "get" what's going on.

A perfect story to tell by way of a pop-up book, the story is super short so it's appeal to the youngest children will be assured and the pop-ups are the perfect medium to tell this specific tale. By gently opening and slightly shutting the pages, each animal can be "animated" and really convey the story. Add your own voices in different ways, and this book is a recipe for a success in story-telling! My favorite pop-up? It's when the wide mouthed frog makes his mouth as small as possible of course!

This is a GREAT book to read aloud to preschoolers. The pop-ups do their own thing when they open the book and they are easy to see and not too delicate. When I did storytellng events for the 2-5 year old crowd, this made them howl every time.

Slightly open and close the books just a little when each character speaks -- the pop-up is focused on the mouth and it makes the character "talk".

Read this book to a smaller group, a group that can understand the rules about being kind to books, or one with their parents around. If you don't heed this advice, you will find that several kids will want to grab the bigger pop-ups..

A frog with a wide mouth, and a long tongue, journeys through his immediate environment, asking all the creatures he encounters what it is they eat. He asks a mouse, and a bird with a beak, and then! an alligator that eats wide mouthed frogs. So the frog puckers his mouth up real right, and says "You don't see many of those anymore", splashing away.

This is funny every single time! The pop-ups really make this story work well, kids love it.

Great pop-up book. Pop-ups are large and impressive but simple enough that damage or misuse of the book shouldn't be an issue in most cases. A little short, but overall very fun!
Age recommendation: 3-6

Genre: This is an informational book because the story allows readers to find out not only what a frog eats, but what other animals eat as well. The frog eat flies but he wants to see what other animals have until the end when the story adds a twist and the frog runs into an animal that only eats wide-mouthed frogs. This is a fun way to teach readers about animals' diets and the pop up pictures add a nice effect to the story that makes the animals come alive.

Rating: 4

Media: Colored paper, oil pastels