Green Wilma

by Tedd Arnold

Wilma's parents don't know quite what to do when their daughter wakes up green and requests bugs for breakfast. At school, Wilma's teachers are appalled by her unusually colorful antics. Wherever Wilma goes, surprises await herand readers of this irresistibly funny fable. "Absurd and action-packed." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Humor, Storytime, Fantasy

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Tedd grew up with three brothers. His family lived on a farm in Pennsylvania for several years then returned to Elmira until Tedd was ten years old. His father's work then required that they move to Gainesville, Florida. There, Tedd's first art lessons in an abandoned dentist's office over the Happy Hour pool hall eventually led to a fine arts degree from the University of Florida.

He and his wife, Carol, started their family in Tallahassee where Tedd worked as a commercial illustrator. Carol, a kindergarten teacher, drew Tedd's attention to children's books. Their first son, Walter, inspired his breakthrough picture book, NO JUMPING ON THE BED!.

He and his family now live in Elmira. His second son, William, now stars in NO MORE WATER IN THE TUB!, a sequel to his first book. He has now published over 50 books as author and illustrator.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Green Wilma” is a hysterical children’s book created by Tedd Arnold, well-known author of the “Parts” series. Chaos ensures when a female frog causes mischief at her school when she tries to catch a delicious looking fly that was flying all over the school. "Green Wilma" is certainly a book that will have children rolling around laughing for many years to come.

Tedd Arnold has done an excellent job with both illustrating and writing this hilarious story. Tedd Arnold writes the story in a rhyming poetic text, which makes this story seem similar to Dr. Seuss’ popular children’s books and this truly brings out the creativity of this story about a female frog who wanted nothing more than to catch a tasty fly that keeps escaping her throughout the book. Tedd Arnold’s illustrations are truly something to be remembered as all the characters have bug-out eyes and small bodies, especially of the image of Wilma herself as she has orange curly hair and a yellow and red polka-dotted dress and a body of a frog. I also love the way that Tedd Arnold makes the background seem three-dimensional, especially of the image of the quilt that Wilma sleeps in at the beginning of the book as it has many different colors and shapes for its design.

Parents should know that the ending of this book might likely confuse many small children. I will not give away the ending of this book, but it does involve some kind of a dream sequence with one of the characters in this book. Parents might want to explain to their children about the difference between dreams and reality so that they might not be confuse about what happens at the end of the book.

“Green Wilma” is the perfect children’s story for children who love frogs and good humor and children will find themselves reading this book over and over again. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might be confuse about the ending.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Green Wilma is a fun story about a girl who wakes up green. Her mother is fussy because she doesn't feel as thought a green child should go to school. When Wilma gets on the bus the ruckus begins. In art her classmates think its pretty cool to be green. And again more ruckus. She is hungry and finds that flies are what she desires the most. When she spots one on the teachers nose the chase is on. Again, more ruckus. The fly eventually leads her to Millers pond and you will have to read the rest of the story yourself to see how it ends. Trust me you will love the twist.

Parents and teachers will love the simple sentence structure. Readers will love the brightly colored illustrations with the signature big eyes that exude humor.

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminiscent of Imogene's Antlers or A Bad Case of Stripes, Wilma wakes up green one morning. In fact, she is more than just green. She also croaks and eats flies. Green Wilma has all sorts of adventures and trouble at school that day, and ... I loved the twist at the end. :)

This was written before the fly guy books and is Tedd Arnold's first book with a fly. It's very fun! I particularly love all the bug-eyed people in Arnold's illustrations. Even Green Wilma's doll is bug-eyed. :)

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Green Wilma by Tedd Arnold is one of my preschool class's favorites. It is a fantasy or make believe story about a girl that wakes up green and wants flies to eat, hops out windows and ends up in the pond close to her school. The punch line at the end always brings on the giggles in this fun story for children.

[Ben Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure if it would be right to call "Green Wilma" an escape-from-reality picturebook per se, but it is a fun, rhyming read with an interesting twist at the end. It tells the story of Wilma, who one day wakes up and finds that she's turned into a green frog, a la Gregor Samsa in "The Metamorphosis." She proceeds to interact with her human family and teachers, who are appalled by the fact that she is now a jumping amphibian who eats insects. The twist occurs at the end of the story, when we find out that Wilma was a frog all along, and the dream was that she had woken up as part of a human family.

The illustrations are rendered in color pencil and watercolor, and pop off the page in vibrant colors. The words are simple but amusing: "She washed, she dressed, she combed her hair, she quickly made her bed / She hopped down to the breakfast table, 'Pass the bugs' she said." Overall, the book was a fun but lightweight riff on the "woke up as a new person/creature" trope.

[Kelli Stonebreaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Wilma is a humorous fable about a young girl who woke up as a green frog. The illustrations capture Wilma getting ready for school but because she's a frog she is making a mess. The reactions of the other people are also very funny. Her parents faces look horrified when she went down stairs for breakfast and asked to "pass the bugs". Her parents told her green people can't go to school but she still did. Because she is a frog, she jumped into the fish tank and tried to catch a fly but missed and hit the teachers nose. She chased the fly all the way to a pond. She got scared when she saw a big hungry fish which caused her to wake up so she hopped out of water onto the log. It ends with the quote "When you dream, be careful that you don't fall off the log". This ending can be confusing to younger kids because she was always a frog she just dreamed the whole thing. I would use this book in my future classroom for fun because I think the students would like it and think its funny.

[Kristen Scelonge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade/Interest Level:Primary (3rd grade)
Reading Level: Lexile level,600 LAD
Genre: Modern Fantasy/ Science Fiction

Main Characters: Wilma, her mother, her father, teacher, and principal
Setting: Wilma's home and school
POV: Wilma's

Summary of book:
The story Green Wilma by Tedd Arnold is a about young girl who wakes up and suddenly feels and looks very different. Before going to downstairs to have breakfast with her family she realizes that she is green, croking like a frog, and all of a sudden has an incredible taste for flies. At breakfast with her family her mother makes it "Very clear that green chidlren do not go to school." However, Wilma is not phased by the scolding and leaps out the window to ensure her ride on the school-bus to school. At school all of the children think that being great is the new "cool" thing to do so they paint one another and watch in awe as Wilma shows off her new found jumping/leaping skills in gym class during a game of dodgeball. The school faculty is convinvced that Wilma simply ate something that caused her to turn green and there is not much alarm for concern in this regard. As the day progresses Wilma becomes extremly hungry and the only thing that will satisfy is a fly. She notices one her teacher's nose during a read aloud and leaps after it, however it gets away. She chases after the fly all the way to a nearby pond where she jumps in after it and comes face to face with a hungry fish. She immediately wakes up from her dream and relaizes that she is still a little girl and the entire dream was fantasy.

I would and have used this story in my classroom to discuss the differences between fantasy and reality. This book can help provide the foundation for what students need to know when classifying stories between what is real and fake and could and could not happen in real life.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Rating: 3
2. A book review from Publisher's Weekly said, "There's something decidedly odd about Wilma: at breakfast, her parents are startled by their offspring's request to ``Pass the bugs''; later, she shocks her teacher by snagging a ``tasty little fly'' with her long pink tongue. Most noticeably, however, Wilma's skin has turned a deep, froggy green, a fact that her polka-dot T-shirt and beribboned blond hair cannot conceal. In this strange and gleeful story, it's surprisingly easy being green--the extraordinary heroine is the envy of her elementary-school class."
3. The author (Arnold) includes a lot of great rhyming words in this book. It may be a good one for teachers to read when talking about frogs to the class as the book refers to how they leap, what they eat, and little tips and tricks of being a frog. I thought the illustrator did a great job depicting Green Wilma with her crazy blonde hair and polka dot shirt as well and think that kids would really enjoy all the illustrations.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read today at my "green" storytime in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

It's HARD to find good holiday themed books. As a result, I've started branching out, trying to think outside of the norm. The first book we read was about a boy who forgot to wear green... this one is about a girl who TURNS green. Hey, it works!

The kids liked this book a lot. And they didn't see the ending twist coming at all. I have a couple of older girls who come to storytimes who HATE the stories (go figure)... but even they stopped whispering during this reading.

The rhymes were pretty good. It worked well when read aloud, especially due to the sparsity of text and the detailed, funny pictures. I heard a lot of commentary about the various illustrations.

Not an instant classic, but enjoyable.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Green Wilma is about a little girl who wakes up as a green frog, croaking and hungry for flies. Her mother tells her that frogs don't go to school, but she doesn't listen. The whole day she shows off her new skills and the other kids paint themselves green. During the afternoon Wilma becomes so hungry for a fly that she ends up following all the way to a pond where she comes face to face with an angry fish. You'll have to read it to find out what happens next.

This book is appropriate for ages 4+

This is just a fun and silly story with some fantastic illustrations, they add personality to the story. This should be read aloud to kids during storytime and could follow with kids drawing pictures of frogs, or doing coloring pages.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilma starts out waking up in bed, Green! Going to breakfast as a green frog, wanting to eat flies, hopping to the school bus, Green Wilma goes through her day at school only to hop after a fly. Finally she catches that fly, and lands in Miller’s Pond, really waking up.

My kids love this book, especially the part about it really being a frog dreaming of being a girl and not a girl dreaming of being a frog - basically! The pictures lend a lot to the story, from waking in the bed to hopping through the lunchroom after that fly all the way to landing in the Pond. There is also a bit of a rhyming cadence to the story that the kids like to hear. A fun way to spend some time with the kids.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha ha! Fun and funny pictures. Hilarious little scenarios throughout the book. And a wonderful twist at the end. How could a child not enjoy this?

3/18/10 I believe the children enjoyed this in both storytimes. The Thursday group (with as ROWDY as they were), they were pretty quiet during the book. I guess that means it caught their attention?

3/25/10 I know both downtown groups enjoyed this one. You can tell they like the pictures. But after reading this to 4 different groups total, I don't think any of them quite got the ending. It even passed over some of the adults' heads. Maybe that's something more easily picked up from a lap-read.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me of Tedd Arnold's "Parts" books, which have silly, bug-eyed characters and fun, light-hearted rhyming throughout the text. I hadn't realized how many other books Tedd Arnold had until finding Green Wilma. I like the clever twist that makes the reader question whether Wilma is a girl who wakes up as a green frog or a frog who wakes up as a girl. Arnold definitely has a unique artistic style that, when looking up close, looks like a variety of colored squiggles put together to create an image. I really enjoy his stories and recommend this to any parent or teacher of elementary level children. Heck, even I enjoyed reading it alone!

[Monalisa Johnson-brown]

This is about Wilma who wakes up green. She goes to breakfast asking for flies and her parents don't know what to do. She went to school on top of the bus drivers head. In school she could not stay still and gym class she was the fastest. She went to lunch, saw a fly and decided to catch. She chased it through the cafeteria, outside, and into a pond where she finally caught it. While in the pond she saw a hungry fish that wanted to eat her and then she remembers what she was taught about when sleeping not to fall off the log. She was so tired that she went to sleep on the log.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a humorous story of Wilma a little girl that one day woke up green and transformed into a frog. Wilma is very comical even the name is comical. Seen Wilma doing her morning routines and behave in school will make all my Kindergarten students laugh. I can't hardly wait to read aloud the story. Wilma travels fast out of school and finds a pond where she encounters a hungry fish and this is when "she woke up in a flash". Then, these are the words to remember children "When you dream, be careful that you don't fall off the log".

[Bryce Skiles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a funny picture book. It starts with a Wilma waking up green. Realizing she has turned into a frog, she went about her day perfectly fine but everyone around her started freaking out about it. But Wilma just did what she could and went to school even though it turned into a little bit of a disaster because she got hungry and chased a fly. But in the end she ends up a normal frog on a long. It is a good rhyming story to have students maybe go back and write more to the story but make sure it has to rhyme and to work at their rhyming skills.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful, whimsical children's book. Especially good if you have a child who's a reader and smaller children. Entertaining for all ages. My 12 year old, Stevie, read it to her 2 year old brother Dash and would pause to let him say the next word or line in the book. I don't know who had a better time, them reading, or me watching and listening. They can both still recite this book almost 12 years later.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little confused by the end of the story, since while reading it I had thought that Wilma was a girl, not a frog. So when I found out that the frog Wilma was having a dream about being human, it took a moment to orient myself to what I had just read. That being said I loved the story and the illustrations were cute and the colors were vibrant and I think that for a young child going to school, reading about the antics of a frog-girl can be entertaining.

[Kayla DeRemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cute book. Children will love this fun, and crazy story of Wilma. This is a great book to use when trying to get children to be inquisitive on why Wilma may be green. All her different behaviors, that children recognize as not human, get them thinking about what animal she might be. Teachers can use this for many different lessons, or parents can read this at home. It is a good read for children!

[Marit]

This book was kind of surprising to me. Why did Wilma suddenly become a frog, and the rest of her family was humans? I guess I just did not understand the concept, or maybe it simply was just imagination. Even though I could not relate to this book, I noticed how the text rhymed and that the book was written in a really good way.

[Nicole Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green Wilma is a frog's imagining of what it would be like to be a girl in school. The setting of the story takes place in Wilma the frog's imaginary life - her house and her school, and then at the very end, when her dream splashes away, her pond. Green Wilma could be utilized in the classroom to teach little kids to use their imagination.

[Katherine Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Green Wilma
Green Wilma by Tedd Arnold, is a interesting book. One morning Wilma wakes up green. She has to go to school and her family a is worried. At school the teachers though it was something she ate, and the kids want to be like her. She gets in trouble from munching on flies in class. How will she ever get out of this situation?

[Elizabeth Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be great to read with kindergarten/first grade level, simply because it does have colorful illustrations and small short words, but the ending is a bit different. The student has to be able to know that the toad was just dreaming and not ever a human! It was very silly and fun and would be great to have kids maybe act out what the toad had been doing as child!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

About a girl who wakes up green one day - or maybe a frog who dreams she's a girl?
This might work better as a read aloud - it might take the child a few pages to figure out that Wilma is a frog? And a child might be more satisfied with the ending.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly tale about a little frog who has a very strange dream. Our girls thought this was a funny story and the illustrations are cartoonish and very humorous. It's a good book to read aloud at storytime. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Sung Baick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's just me, but I thought this book was a little confusing. I think I understand what happened but I just don't think it was very clear. It would be a fun read-aloud for the younger kids though. It would be great for students who love frogs.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilma wakes up one morning green. She has a sudden need to jump everywhere and has a peculiar taste for flies. She is chased out of school by the principal and finally returns to the pond where she was dreaming. Apparently she had fallen off the log.

[Brian Cave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilma's parents are stunned when they wake up to find their daughter has turned green and oddly requests bugs for breakfast. The teachers at her school are even more puzzled by what Wilma has become. A very funny little story.

[Meghan Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great book to use in a storytime on either frogs or things that are silly.

Excerpt: "One morning Wilma woke up green, and much to her surprise/ She sat up on her bed and croaked and started eating flies."

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun rhyming book about a little girl who wakes up with frog tendencies. Her day at school is funny as she tries to eat flies off the teacher's nose and ends up bounding out of the school to chase her lunch.

Tedd Arnold's signature style - all the way.