The Frog Princess

by Laura Cecil

Forced to marry an ugly frog, the youngest son of the queen is astounded to learn that the frog is really a beautiful princess

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 17, 1994

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting retelling of the The Princess and the Frog. I really like that the possible wives are tested for their cleverness as opposed to being judged by their beauty.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faithful retelling of the classic tale. Adequate illustrations.

[Amber Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Frog Princess is a fairy tale for third to fourth graders. The story begins with a queen and three sons. The queen wants each of her sons to find a wife, but the sons reply that they do not know how to find a wife. She gives each of them a bow and arrow and tells them that where the arrow lands they will find their wife. The youngest son Marco’s arrow landed in a ditch next to a frog. The queen decides to give the brides three tasks and the son who has found the cleverest wife will become king. The fist task is to make a loaf of bread. One bride made a castle looking loaf of bread, another made a loaf that looked like a needle, and the little frog produced a walnut that when cracked open a loaf of bread shaped like a flower grew out of it. The second task was that each bride was to weave a perfect length of cloth. Again the frog produced a perfect cloth. The last task for the brides were to train a dog. The frog’s dog could count, march on its hind legs, and even play the guitar. The queen ordered Marco to bring his bride to the palace the next day for the wedding. Marco and the little frog set out for the palace. All of a sudden, Marco notices that the frog is no longer there and all that remains is the frog’s skin. Suddenly a girl appears and tells Marco that she is his frog bride. The girl had a spell cast upon her and the only way to break it was if someone would marry her. The king and queen married and lived happily ever after.

Activities
1. Each student will write an epilogue in which they explain what happened to one of the characters next. Student can choose to write about the queen, the other two sons or their brides, or the new king and queen.
2. With partners, students will create a diorama of one of the scenes in the book. For example, they could make the pond scene or have a scene in the palace.

[Hannah Moles · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book The Frog Princess by Laura Cecil, there is a multitude of lessons that could be taught to younger kids. As I first started reading I felt that the plot was a little too basic and slightly predictable, but from a child's perspective, I could definitely see where they might build suspense. After the characters were introduced, I immediately sided with the last, Prince Marco. This is because he always has his head in the clouds and just like many children, who I'm sure got along with this character as well, my head is always in the clouds. Spoiler alert he's the winner in the end, but for a very good reason. He offers a lesson that no matter what the situation may look like in the beginning you should give it a chance because you never know what may be masked under the original appearance. Also, I felt like the illustrator did a very good job at portraying the scenes described in the book, with a crazy color scheme and detailed characters I felt as if I was in the story. Overall a good book.

[Katelyn Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The frog princess was a very good book! It is about a competition between three sons to bring the best bride to marry. Each son had different characteristics. During the competition, the sons are asked to have their brides do different things. Prince Marco ended up getting stuck with a frog, but with each challenge Marco brought the frog, he ended up amazing the queen. After had Marco had won the competition for the most talented bride, he was forced to marry the frog. So once him and the frog agreed on marrying each other, the frog turned into a beautiful woman. It turns out she was under a spell and the only way she could be released was if a man would agree to marry her. I like this story because it teaches children to not judge based off of appearance. The frog may have looked ugly on the outside, but inside it was beautiful.

[Katelyn Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The frog princess was a very good book! It is about a competition between three sons to bring the best bride to marry. Each son had different characteristics. During the competition, the sons are asked to have their brides do different things. Prince Marco ended up getting stuck with a frog, but with each challenge Marco brought the frog, he ended up amazing the queen. After had Marco had won the competition for the most talented bride, he was forced to marry the frog. So once him and the frog agreed on marrying each other, the frog turned into a beautiful woman. It turns out she was under a spell and the only way she could be released was if a man would agree to marry her. I like this story because it teaches children to not judge based off of appearance. The frog may have looked ugly on the outside, but inside it was beautiful.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alternate version of the Frog Prince. In this version, three princesses are charged with finding wives by their mother, the queen. Then the queen decides there will be a contest to see who is up for ruling the kingdom. There are three tasks.

Of course, the frog princess excels in all three tasks. The prince reluctantly asks the frog to marry him. With that, the spell that made her a frog was broken and a most beautiful woman appeared.

It's an interesting enough tale.

[Contemplative · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story and a twist on The Princess and the Frog. This time it's the princess who is the frog. The Prince ends up kissing her in which they then "live happily ever after!"

[carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended Ages: pre-K - 3rd grade

Forced to marry an ugly frog, the youngest son of the queen is astounded to learn that the frog is really a beautiful princess.

[Miri Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Since all my sons are fools, whichever one has found the cleverest wife shall become king." Funny.