The Frog with the Big Mouth

Title: The Frog with the Big Mouth

Author: (Retold by) Teresa Bateman (Illustrated by Will Terry)

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

Copyright Date: 2008

Print Date:

ISBN: 9780807526217

Pages: Approx. 30 + page giving details about the animals encountered in the story.

Book Description (from dust jacket):

     In South America lives a little frog with a very BIG MOUTH. And one day, this little frog catches a huge fly! It's not enough to eat the fly...no, the frog with the BIG MOUTH sets out through the rainforest to find other animals to impress! But what happens when this frog brags too much?

     Teresa Bateman's retelling of a traditional tale is full of funny refrains, while Will Terry's paintings bring amazing rainforest creatures to life.

Comments:

I've heard/seen the Wide Mouth Frog telling of this story, but I have to say, I think I prefer this one.

For the one reading (best aloud) the story, some words are bolded and larger ("he opened his mouth up wide, wide, wide" or "a big fly, a huge fly, an enormous fly!").  Which, of course, brings me to another thing I enjoy finding in children's picture books... Vocabulary.  Wide, long, big, huge, enormous, stupendous, etc.  And most importantly (to me), the introduction to new animals.  My nephew loves identifying animals and the sounds and/or actions they make.  From this book, he loved the capybarra (I can only hope I taught him the right pronunciation)...

can you blame him?  And that brings me to the other part of this book I enjoyed. The illustrations were great. Bright, colorful, and fun.

Overall, a great book.