[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Kindle
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
In the song “I Am . . . I Said,” Neil Diamond sang: “Did you ever read about a frog/Who dreamed of becoming a king/And then became one?” In the children’s book I Don’t Want to Be a Frog, a young frog dreams of becoming a cat. Or a rabbit. Or a pig. He simply wants to be something “cute and warm.” Anything but a wet, slimy frog!
This book is addressed to children between the ages of 3 and 7 years old who might want to be something a bit different than what they are. The lesson the book provides is that there are trade-offs and dangers in becoming something else. For example, we find out that hungry wolves like to hunt rabbits. But not frogs. Frogs are not very tasty – at least not to wolves – so there’s safety in being wet, green, and slimy.
I Don’t Want to Be a Frog was written by Dev Petty and illustrated by Mike Boldt. They do an excellent job of matching up the words with the drawings. This book could be enjoyable for many young readers, except for those who might become frightened by the big, hungry predator wolf. It’s better read to the young ones in the daytime, and definitely not right before bedtime.
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