Bullfrog Pops! - Hardcover

Walton, Rick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0879059036 ISBN 13: 9780879059033

Publisher: Gibbs Smith, 1999

Synopsis

9 X 10 1/2 In, 32 Pp, Full-Color Illustrations Throughout, Ages 4-8 Last Seen Hopping A Stage. . . Coach and Finding His Hop, Our Hero Is Now On A Eye-Popping Eating Binge Trying To Cure His Insatiable Appetite. Woven Through The Western Town of Ravenous Gulch, The Story Leaves A Cast of Many Hopping Mad. However, Just As Things Look Bleak, Transitive and Intravsitive Verbs Turn The Tables and Take Bullfrog On Another Adventure. As Bullfrog's Appetite and Waistline Grow, The Townsfolk Can't Help But Gather. . . Food For Bullfrog. Will Bullfrog Hang. . . Those Pictures Back Up? Will The Townfolk Gather. . . Food For Bullfrog? Will Bullfrog Pop. . . ?

About this title

About the Authors

Rick Walton is the author of dozens of books for kids, including his popular books introducing language arts concepts: Once There Was a Bullfrog, Why the Banana Split, and Herd of Cows Flock of Sheep. He often plays his guitar happily. Rick and his family live in Provo, Utah. For more info visit www.rickwalton.com

Chris McAllister has been a freelance illustrator for fifteen years. He and his wife, Maureen live happily in the Norgwoods of Minnesota with their family.

From the Back Cover

Bullfrog Pops!A new adventure from the author of "Once There Was A Bull . . . (frog)."

From the Inside Flap

From the author of the "hopaway" hit Once There was a Bull . . . (frog) comes this tale of mouth-watering proportions!Last seen hopping a . . . stagecoach and finding his hop, our hero is now on an eye-popping eating binge trying to cure his insatiable appetite.Woven through the western town of Ravenous Gulch, the story leaves a cast of many hopping mad. However, just as things look bleak, transitive and intransitive verbs turn the tables, taking Bullfrog on another adventure.As Bullfrog's appetite and waistline grow, the townsfolk can't help but gather . . . food for Bullfrog.Will Bullfrog hang . . .those pictures back up?Will Bullfrog pop . . .?Only Rick Walton and Chris McAllister will tell as their expertly crafted tale unfolds . . . (or should we say, pops?)

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2-A hungry amphibian eats his way through Ravenous Gulch and is pursued by all of the townspeople. Walton creates suspense by a clever use of vocabulary and layout. Most double-page spreads end with a verb in bold print that changes its meaning on the following page. For example, readers would expect the frog to have fled the scene after reading, "Bullfrog dashed-," but the completion of the sentence on the following page-"-the watermelon to the ground" proves differently. Illustrations are contained within bright, bold, desert-hued squares surrounded by white margins. The comical Bullfrog is seen running off with a large watermelon and again as he is cornered against an apple tree trunk. Typeface for the text is made up of unusual curlicues on most every letter with an uneven baseline that could make reading difficult for new readers but adds to the sense of rapid movement through the story. Supplemental fare.
Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Some amusing plays on words, and a keen device for keeping little hands turning pages doesn't quite succeed in this picture book from Walton (So Many Bunnies, 1998, etc.). Bullfrog heads for Ravenous Gulch, and he sure is hungry when he gets there. He swipes a pizza from Starvin' Marvin, picks a watermelon, steals bread from a bakery, takes apples from a tree, and finally ends up in Ravenous Gulch's Fine Groceries, Fine Dining, and Fine Art Emporium where he eats everything in sight with such enthusiasm that he knocks the pictures from the walls. Bullfrog finds salvation, though, when the townsfolk realize they have a contender for the County Super Eater Contest. Most pages end with a word in boldface; its meaning changes with the turn of the page, e.g., the bullfrog ``bolts'' on one page, implying that he's hopping away, but the next page reveals that what he bolts is ``the door shut.'' The action appears on square paintings offset by white borders and full of skewed perspectives. The images combined with the squiggly, hard-to-decipher typeface will make this hard on newer readers, but they might appreciate the language: ``Stop eatin' my apples, you canyon-mouthed fruit catcher!'' (Picture book. 6-9) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Once there was a bullfrog who hopped . . .

. . . a stagecoach and rode far away. After many miles, he came to the town of Ravenous Gulch.

Bullfrog was hot. He was dirty. He had not showered in many days. And he smelled . . .

. . . PIZZA! Bullfrog was hungry! All he'd eaten for days was one horsefly.

Edition details

• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0879059036
• ISBN 13: 9780879059033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: McAllister Chris
• Number of pages: 32