The Frog and the Beanpole

by Charles Kaufman, Troy Howell (Illustrator)

An invisible frog trying to escape an evil professor who wants him for laboratory experiments befriends a 10-year-old girl running away from home.

189 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1980

Reviews

[RAVEN621 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My great grandfather wrote this book. He also wrote and was nominated for his screenplay on the Montgomery Clift film called Freud: the Secret Passion. He was a deeply creative and eccentric man who ended up on Mccarthy’s blacklist. He was a sweetheart and a real talker. Was reminded of him and his work today because I saw a poster for E.T. in a youtube video. My great grandfather sued Steven Spielberg when E.T. came out because he was adamant that the writer of the film had read The Frog and the Beanpole and stole all of the main concepts and imagery from his novel. It is a wild family anecdote that comes up sometimes. They lost the case because my grandfather didn’t have the correct licensing for the illustrations in the book, so according to the court, Spielberg and co were allowed to do whatever they wanted. I read the book as a teenager and it is indeed very similar, from the glowing heart of the titular frog, to the vivisection scene in the film and the book - ET even opens with a scene revolving around frogs. If I remember correctly, there are even more stark and unmistakably uncanny “coincidences” between the two works. Food for thought. Funny story 😭❤️ Miss Charlie so much. Speaking of the illustrations, they are truly incredible. If you are a fan of this style, and black and white charcoal-like illustrations, you’ll love this