Gr 2 Up-- In Lewis' translation of the familiar Grimm tale, a beautiful princess promises to let a frog live with her and be her ``special friend'' if he will retrieve her golden ball lost at the bottom of a well. Then, thinking he can never demand payment, she callously abandons both him and her promise. Later, when the frog appears at her door, insisting to sit at her table and sleep in her bed, she is repulsed and, in a fit of rage, throws him against a wall. It is this act of violence that breaks an evil enchantment and transforms the ugly frog into a handsome prince. Although certain events in the story are compressed and unexplained, the text reads clearly and gracefully. Lewis brings a feeling of inevitability to her telling that makes the loose ends less troubling. She also fleshes out the characters slightly, providing a degree of motivation and sympathy for the usually unlikable princess. But it is Schroeder's illustrations that make this book remarkable. Her muted, misty pictures, filled with bizarre and disturbing elements, convey a strong and appropriate sense of the fantastic. Using a ``freeze frame'' technique reminiscent of cine ma stills, Schroeder is able to isolate individual moments of action, while at the same time pulling viewers into and through the entire event. This technique is especially effective in detailing the pain and horror of the prince's transition and adds depth to an often superficial story. The touch of humor that immediately follows this dramatic scene, when the prince (still dressed in green) ``hops'' into the princess' bed, adds a bit of charm to the tale. Libraries looking for a more standard version of the story may prefer Isadora's The Princess and the Frog (Greenwillow, 1989), but for fascinating illustration that beckons the eye and engages that necessary ``suspension of disbelief,'' this one can't be beat. --Linda Boyles, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
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From the B&N Reads Blog