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[A Tale of Two Frogs] (By: Martha Hamilton) [published: December, 2006]
In this story from Russia, two frog sisters learn the truth of that old saying, It ain't over 'til it's over, or, The opera isn't over until the fat frog sinks. Martha and Mitch, the team that brought us The Hidden Feast and Noodlehead Stories, put their noodles together to bring us this delightful tale of exploration and perseverance.
Paperback
First published October 25, 2006
8 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Martha Hamilton
37 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss are a husband-and-wife team, also known as “Beauty and the Beast Storytellers,” who have traveled the world since 1980 sharing their passion for the art of storytelling. They have co-authored several books and recordings that have won numerous awards including Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature (awarded by Bank Street College of Education), Parents’ Choice, National Parenting Publications Awards, and Storytelling World. Their Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom, used in the teaching of storytelling from elementary schools to college courses, won an Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award and was praised by award committee members as "an infectiously enthusiastic book on the methods and merits of teaching storytelling to children . . . imaginative, inspiring, easy to read, and tremendously engaging . . . a terrific book that will be a classic for years to come."
Mitch and Martha’s story collections include world tales that they have retold in a conversational manner so that children can easily understand and retell them. Parents and teachers will find a wealth of information on how to get children excited about reading, telling world tales, and making up their own stories at Mitch and Martha’s Web site: http://www.beautyandthebeaststorytell...
Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss are a husband-and-wife team, also known as “Beauty and the Beast Storytellers,” who have traveled the world since 1980 sharing their passion for the art of storytelling. They have co-authored several books and recordings that have won numerous awards including Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature (awarded by Bank Street College of Education), Parents’ Choice, National Parenting Publications Awards, and Storytelling World. Their Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom, used in the teaching of storytelling from elementary schools to college courses, won an Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award and was praised by award committee members as "an infectiously enthusiastic book on the methods and merits of teaching storytelling to children . . . imaginative, inspiring, easy to read, and tremendously engaging . . . a terrific book that will be a classic for years to come."
Mitch and Martha’s story collections include world tales that they have retold in a conversational manner so that children can easily understand and retell them. Parents and teachers will find a wealth of information on how to get children excited about reading, telling world tales, and making up their own stories at Mitch and Martha’s Web site: http://www.beautyandthebeaststorytell...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 25, 2018
A Tale of Two Frogs is a book inspired from a Russian folktale/fable. This folktale involves two frogs that are sisters. One is young, energetic, and adventurous, while the other frog is older, lazy, and cautious. One day the young frog persuades her sister to go on an adventure together. They find a big pail and jump into the white "water" below. The sisters are surprised when it isn't what they thought and ended up being trapped. The older, lazy frog gives up almost immediately, while the young frog is determined to make it out of the pail. The young frog kick, kick, kicks so much so that she churns the milk into butter and since it's no longer a liquid, the two sisters are able to get out of the pail. The moral of the story is, "When you find yourself in trouble, never give up. It pays to keep on kicking!"
This story is a variant of an original Russian fable about persistence. It is geared toward children ages 4-8 and is a simple read. I've heard of other tales have persistence as a theme, but not specifically A Tale of Two Frogs. The illustrations are neatly painted and give clues to the story. I think this particular version is geared specifically for kids, but I feel it can be a great reminder for adults to remain persistent in their trials and tribulations.
This story is a variant of an original Russian fable about persistence. It is geared toward children ages 4-8 and is a simple read. I've heard of other tales have persistence as a theme, but not specifically A Tale of Two Frogs. The illustrations are neatly painted and give clues to the story. I think this particular version is geared specifically for kids, but I feel it can be a great reminder for adults to remain persistent in their trials and tribulations.
October 24, 2017
My seven-year-old son loved this story of ingenuity.
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March 1, 2016Title: A Tale of Two Frogs
Author: Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss
Illustrator: Tom Wrenn
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Taking responsibility and being resourceful against all ods.
Opening line/sentence: Once there were two frogs that were sisters.
Brief Book Summary: Two frog sisters with completely different personalities, one adventurous and fearless, and one lazy and emotionless get stuck in a bucket of milk. The lazy sister gives up right away but the fearless sister tried to keep kicking, she wouldn’t give up until she had to. She eventually kicked so much that she turned the cream into butter, and they were able to get out of the butter. The older sister learned that you should never give up, “it pays to keep kicking”.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, June 2007)
Story Cove' is a series of very highly recommended stories and folk tales from around the world for beginning readers that combines charming and colorful artwork with simple, easy-reader texts ideal for children ages 4 to 8.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Story cove:
This is the same award winning creative team who brought you Ghost Catchers and Noodlehead Stories. A Tale of Two Frogs is a folktale that provides valuable life lessons in character values in taking responsibility and being resourceful against all odds. Those that never give up, often find themselves handsomely rewarded for their persistence. In the end the lazy frog develops a greater appreciation and new found respect for her sister's always positive, "it's not over until it's over" outlook on life.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviewers don’t say anything negative about the book but the first one is very generic and the second one really only provides an analysis. The artwork is charming like the first reviewer states, but it doesn’t really stand out to me. The second reviewer praises the authors for being creative in their story telling.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The story is very relatable because a lot of people want to be like the lazy sister and take the easy way out, but that gets you no where. This book teaches children how important perseverance is if you want to succeed in life. The story does a good job making the lazy sister unappealing/undesirable and the fearless sister someone you would want to be more like.
Consideration of Instructional Application: Have the students participate in team-building activities that require perseverance. For example, the human knot. Have your class break up into small groups and untangle themselves from their human knot. Some kids might get frustrated, but eventually they will untangle and it will feel great they didn’t give up. You could also have your students write down their goals and how they plan on obtaining their goals. Have them write down a goal for the school year, and at the end of the year give them the sheet that they wrote down their goal on and see if any of them obtained it.
Author: Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss
Illustrator: Tom Wrenn
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Taking responsibility and being resourceful against all ods.
Opening line/sentence: Once there were two frogs that were sisters.
Brief Book Summary: Two frog sisters with completely different personalities, one adventurous and fearless, and one lazy and emotionless get stuck in a bucket of milk. The lazy sister gives up right away but the fearless sister tried to keep kicking, she wouldn’t give up until she had to. She eventually kicked so much that she turned the cream into butter, and they were able to get out of the butter. The older sister learned that you should never give up, “it pays to keep kicking”.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, June 2007)
Story Cove' is a series of very highly recommended stories and folk tales from around the world for beginning readers that combines charming and colorful artwork with simple, easy-reader texts ideal for children ages 4 to 8.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Story cove:
This is the same award winning creative team who brought you Ghost Catchers and Noodlehead Stories. A Tale of Two Frogs is a folktale that provides valuable life lessons in character values in taking responsibility and being resourceful against all odds. Those that never give up, often find themselves handsomely rewarded for their persistence. In the end the lazy frog develops a greater appreciation and new found respect for her sister's always positive, "it's not over until it's over" outlook on life.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviewers don’t say anything negative about the book but the first one is very generic and the second one really only provides an analysis. The artwork is charming like the first reviewer states, but it doesn’t really stand out to me. The second reviewer praises the authors for being creative in their story telling.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The story is very relatable because a lot of people want to be like the lazy sister and take the easy way out, but that gets you no where. This book teaches children how important perseverance is if you want to succeed in life. The story does a good job making the lazy sister unappealing/undesirable and the fearless sister someone you would want to be more like.
Consideration of Instructional Application: Have the students participate in team-building activities that require perseverance. For example, the human knot. Have your class break up into small groups and untangle themselves from their human knot. Some kids might get frustrated, but eventually they will untangle and it will feel great they didn’t give up. You could also have your students write down their goals and how they plan on obtaining their goals. Have them write down a goal for the school year, and at the end of the year give them the sheet that they wrote down their goal on and see if any of them obtained it.
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February 18, 2012Have the audio version
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April 19, 2017Title: A Tale of Two Frogs
Author: Martha Hamilton
Illustrator: Martha Hamilton
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Never give up, sisters, family, perseverance, animals,
Opening line/sentence: “Once, there were two frogs who were sisters.”
Brief Book Summary: This is a Russian tale of two frogs who are sisters, and the older one was lazy, while the younger one was adventurous. One day, adventurous sister talked the lazy on to going on an adventure, but they soon found themselves stuck in a bucket of cream. The lazy frog gave up, but the adventurous one did not, as she kept kicking around in the bucket. She kicked so much, that she churned the cream into a big ball of butter, and as a result of her perseverance, the two were saved!
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, June 2007 )
Story Cove' is a series of very highly recommended stories and folk tales from around the world for beginning readers that combines charming and colorful artwork with simple, easy-reader texts ideal for children ages 4 to 8. Priced very inexpensively at $3.95 each, these 32-page picturebooks emphasizes different character traits and values such as courage, sharing, citizenship, fairness, and resourcefulness, and are further enhanced with a Story Cove website at www.storycove.com offering series related movies, games, and more. The individual titles comprising this entertaining and 'kid friendly' series include: "Roster's Night Out", a Cuban tale written by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss with illustrations by Baird Hoffmire; "The Magic Pot", a Chinese tale told by Pleasant Despain and illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "The Clever Monkey Rides Again", which is a West African story, and "The Drum", a folk tale from India, both of which are told by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "Anansi And The Tug Of War" and "Anansi And The Pot Of Beans", which are two African folktales told by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk which is nicely illustrated by Baird Hoffmire; "A Tale Of Two Frogs", a story from Russia retold by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "The Bear, The Bat, And The Dove" featuring three stories from Aesop and "The Clever Monkey" a folktale from West Africa, both being retold by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Baird Hoffmire; "The Magic Apple", a Middle Eastern folk tale and "How The Tiger Got His Stripes", a folk tale from Vietnam, each of which are told by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Baird Hoffmire. The 'Story Cove' series titles would make particular good choices as school and community library reading program incentive prizes. Books in Series ...., August House, $3.95 each. ages 4-8
(PUBLISHER: August House Story Cove (Atlanta Ga.:), PUBLISHED: 2006.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Children’s Book Council
In this delightful Russian folktale about perseverance and survival, two frog sisters learn the truth of that old saying “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” and “the opera isn’t over until the fat frog sinks.”
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The first review does not say much about this book overall, but as a whole they state that Story Cove is charming and colorful and teaches many lessons. I agree because I think that this is a silly way to teach young readers to never give up. The second review and I both use the term “perseverance,” which I believe to be a powerful lesson that every child should learn.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The element that makes this a fable is the story’s lesson. As I mentioned above, the lesson of this story is to never give up no matter what. I think using frogs as characters, who get stuck in butter is a light way to teach such a heavy lesson to young children. Also, readers with siblings can relate to the characters’ conflicting personalities.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
In my classroom, I would use this book to teach my students to never give up by reading it to them in a read aloud. An activity to support this would be to have my students write about a time where things got difficult, but they never gave up. I would then have them share with the class their experiences with perseverance.
Author: Martha Hamilton
Illustrator: Martha Hamilton
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Never give up, sisters, family, perseverance, animals,
Opening line/sentence: “Once, there were two frogs who were sisters.”
Brief Book Summary: This is a Russian tale of two frogs who are sisters, and the older one was lazy, while the younger one was adventurous. One day, adventurous sister talked the lazy on to going on an adventure, but they soon found themselves stuck in a bucket of cream. The lazy frog gave up, but the adventurous one did not, as she kept kicking around in the bucket. She kicked so much, that she churned the cream into a big ball of butter, and as a result of her perseverance, the two were saved!
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Midwest Book Review (Children's Bookwatch, June 2007 )
Story Cove' is a series of very highly recommended stories and folk tales from around the world for beginning readers that combines charming and colorful artwork with simple, easy-reader texts ideal for children ages 4 to 8. Priced very inexpensively at $3.95 each, these 32-page picturebooks emphasizes different character traits and values such as courage, sharing, citizenship, fairness, and resourcefulness, and are further enhanced with a Story Cove website at www.storycove.com offering series related movies, games, and more. The individual titles comprising this entertaining and 'kid friendly' series include: "Roster's Night Out", a Cuban tale written by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss with illustrations by Baird Hoffmire; "The Magic Pot", a Chinese tale told by Pleasant Despain and illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "The Clever Monkey Rides Again", which is a West African story, and "The Drum", a folk tale from India, both of which are told by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "Anansi And The Tug Of War" and "Anansi And The Pot Of Beans", which are two African folktales told by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk which is nicely illustrated by Baird Hoffmire; "A Tale Of Two Frogs", a story from Russia retold by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, illustrated by Tom Wrenn; "The Bear, The Bat, And The Dove" featuring three stories from Aesop and "The Clever Monkey" a folktale from West Africa, both being retold by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Baird Hoffmire; "The Magic Apple", a Middle Eastern folk tale and "How The Tiger Got His Stripes", a folk tale from Vietnam, each of which are told by Rob Cleveland and illustrated by Baird Hoffmire. The 'Story Cove' series titles would make particular good choices as school and community library reading program incentive prizes. Books in Series ...., August House, $3.95 each. ages 4-8
(PUBLISHER: August House Story Cove (Atlanta Ga.:), PUBLISHED: 2006.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Children’s Book Council
In this delightful Russian folktale about perseverance and survival, two frog sisters learn the truth of that old saying “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” and “the opera isn’t over until the fat frog sinks.”
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
The first review does not say much about this book overall, but as a whole they state that Story Cove is charming and colorful and teaches many lessons. I agree because I think that this is a silly way to teach young readers to never give up. The second review and I both use the term “perseverance,” which I believe to be a powerful lesson that every child should learn.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The element that makes this a fable is the story’s lesson. As I mentioned above, the lesson of this story is to never give up no matter what. I think using frogs as characters, who get stuck in butter is a light way to teach such a heavy lesson to young children. Also, readers with siblings can relate to the characters’ conflicting personalities.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
In my classroom, I would use this book to teach my students to never give up by reading it to them in a read aloud. An activity to support this would be to have my students write about a time where things got difficult, but they never gave up. I would then have them share with the class their experiences with perseverance.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews