Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #167497 in Books
• Published on: 1991-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Will Scieszka, who set the record straight in his bestselling The True Story of the Three Little Pigs , let the Frog Prince and the princess who kissed him live happily ever after? Well, maybe--but first the two must weather various marital difficulties. She hates the way he hops around on the furniture instead of slaying dragons, and he complains that she never likes to visit the pond anymore. The bug-eyed, long-tongued prince decides that he will be happy only if he becomes a frog once again, so he runs off in search of a witch to do the job. On the way, he encounters a trio of eccentric hags preoccupied with the plights of other fairy-tale characters, as well as a fairy godmother who is practicing turning various objects into carriages. Though their coloring is somewhat somber, Johnson's ( No Star Nights ; The Salamander Room ) stylized, sophisticated pictures add to the keen humor of this revisionist revelry. Ages 3-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-5-- As in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989), Scieszka offers another tongue-in-cheek "rest of the story," telling what happens after the Princess kissed the frog. Readers won't be surprised to learn that they do not live "happily ever after." In fact, they're downright miserable. He misses the pond; she's tired of him sticking out his tongue and hopping on the furniture. In desperation, the bug-eyed hero decides to find a witch who can turn him back into the happy frog he once was. Successfully surviving encounters with several sinister but dimwitted witches from other tales, he finally meets Cinderella's Fairy Godmother who tries to help, but the transformation is definitely NOT what he had in mind. As the clock strikes midnight, he returns to human form and hurries home to his beloved Princess where the tale ends unexpectedly, but indeed happily. Johnson's surreal illustrations are right on target for the offbeat story. Painted in deep, shadowy colors and expertly composed, they are filled with subtle and surprising humor that continually rewards viewers with laugh-out-loud visual treats. The overall design is clean and spacious, with figures and objects moving past the ragged borders of the pictures and across the pages, matching the verbal movement perfectly. Readers will relish the pleasure inherent in combining traditional fairy tale motifs with modern, everyday objects and actions. A winner.
- Linda Boyles, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Happily ever after??? What might that mean if you're the Frog Prince and the princess just cannot abide lily pads in bed or hopping in the castle? While on a quest to find a witch to turn him back into a frog, the disconsolate prince creates his own satisfactory solution. In this extension of the familiar tale, Jon Scieszka's zany humor resonates in Patrick Lawlor's narration. Lawlor convincingly portrays a prissy princess and oozes personality as a series of witches who have agendas of their own for the prince. Music and sound effects add just the right amount of setting--clattering brick paths, chattering forest creatures, and bonging clocks. A.R. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

"The Prince didn't feel like going out and slaying anything."
Quite an entertaining book with excellent artwork and a happy albeit foreseeable ending.

My son was quite tickled at how the story ends with "...they lived happily ever after..." right on the first page. I guess I am too much of a tease because he just assumed that I was "reading it wrong" as a joke. It took a bit of convincing to make him believe that it really said that!

This story is about the Frog Prince and Princess after the "happily ever after" and the fact that they are not so happy after all. Particularly the Frog Prince, who is still very frog-like and longs for the good old days. Without getting into too much detail, it turns out that things could be much worse and his wish for "happily ever after" turns to a wish for a lack of "unhappily ever after". If you think about this too long, it may get a little depressing - "Be happy with what you've got! It could be a lot worse!" - but on the surface, this is a funny and conversation-starting picture book.

I recommend this for any and all public and school libraries. Get several copies and keep one on display at all times. It will fly off the shelf!

The prince kissed the princess and....
"...and they lived happily ever after." Or did they? The Frog Prince and his Princess aren't getting along too well. He can't seem to stop trying to catch flies on his tongue, or bouncing on the furniture. His Princess, well, in short the relationship just isn't working out. One day the Princess threw an awful fit, and the Frog Prince decides to get someone to turn him back into a frog. After several adventures in which only a good knowledge of fairy tales, long legs and patience keep him safe, he comes back to his castle after realizing the worth of his Princess, and the two go back to living happily ever after. This time however, things are slightly different.

The pictures in this book couldn't be called cute and cuddly, or even cheerful, unless the one doing the calling either doesn't know the meanings of the words or was being sarcastic. The story is told well, and flows nicely. This is a fun book for one who always wonders what happens next.

Loggie-log-log-log

Frog Prince
I hate it when books leave you in suspense of what it left to happen. This book is a perfect example of what should be done to books. It gives you an update of what happens from the frog becomes a prince. I found it to be very good.