Once There Was a Bull-- Frog

9 X 10 In, 32 Pp, 28 Full-Color < Illustrations, Ages 4 To 8 < Once There Was A Bull. . . (Frog) Is An < Endearing Story of A Frog Who Lost His < Hop. He Looks For It Everywhere: Under < A Toad. . . (Stool), Behind A Dog. . . (House) < and Under A Hedge. . . (Hog), But It's < Nowhere To Be Found. He Has A Cow. . . < (Boy) Throw Him High In The Sky, But He < Lands In A Field of Straw. . . (Berries). < Thanks To A Diamond. . . (Back Rattlesnake) < The Frog Regains His Hop. The < Fast-Paced Story Is Just The Right < Length For Two Year Olds, Yet Has < Enough Humor and Clever Surprises For < Eight Year Olds. But Those In Between < Will Especially Delight In This Creative < Tale. They'll "Jump" At The Chance To < Trick Adults Who Aren't Wise To The < Wordplay and Picture Surprises On Each < Page.

A good idea never quite gets off the ground in this outing, in which compound words are split for comic surprises. On page one, for example, a picture of a spiraling oxtail is captioned, "Once there was a bull..."; turn the page, and the tail becomes a long pink tongue and the sentence concludes, "...frog who had lost his hop." Bullfrog goes searching for his hop "under a toad... stool" and "in a patch of grass... hoppers," but cannot leap until he encounters a "diamond... back rattlesnake looking for breakfast." Walton's most amusing moment may be Bullfrog's statement, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse... fly." The story is never more than banal, but could easily lend itself to a high-energy, read-aloud. The book's design is as straightforward as its plot; undulating lines of hand-drawn text caption square paintings of Bullfrog's adventures. Debut illustrator Hally layers what look to be multicolored pastels on a grainy surface, forgoing precise detail for a slightly unconventional, impressionistic effect. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 5^-8. Noteworthy for its clever design, this amusing tale about a bullfrog searching for his lost hop illustrates how art and placement of text can affect a reader's perception of a story. By splitting the compound word at the end of the last line of text on the right-hand page ("He landed hard in a patch of grass ... " ) and strengthening the image with an illustration (a picture of a grassy field), Walton encourages readers to guess what will appear on the following page. But a flip of the page always reveals something quite different from what is expected (grasshoppers leaping into the air). Younger children may need an adult to point out the visual clues, but most kids will quickly catch on to the pattern and enjoy predicting what's to come. In addition to the obvious tie with lessons on compound words, this could be used to inspire students to do some creative writing of their own. Lauren Peterson