The Frog Princess (The Tales of the Frog Princess Series #1)

by E. D. Baker

Overview

Princess Emeralda a.ka. Emma isn't exactly an ideal princess. Her laugh is more like a donkey's bray than tinkling bells, she trips over her own feet and she does NOT like Prince Jorge, whom her mother hopes she will marry. But if Emma ever thought to escape her troubles, she never expected it to happen by turning into a frog! When convinced to kiss a frog so he might return to being a prince, somehow the spell is reversed and Emma turns into a frog herself! Thus begins their adventure—a quest to return to human form.

Fascinating and hilarious characters ranging from a self-conscious but friendly bat to a surprisingly loyal snake and a wise green witch confirm that readers won't soon forget this madcap story. A fantastic debut from the talented E.D. Baker.

Author Biography: E.D. Baker makes her international debut with The Frog Princess. Ms. Baker has had many jobs: teacher, parrot caretaker and, currently, as a member of a Red Cross Disaster Action Team. Her true love, however, is writing. E.D. Baker lives in Maryland where she provides a home for three children, two horses, one dog, three cats, one cocatiel, a bunny, and two frogs named, of course, Emma and Eadric.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781582349237
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	10/07/2004
Series:	Tales of the Frog Princess Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 7.88(h) x 0.65(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

E. D. Baker is the author of nine books in the Frog Princess series, including The Frog Princess (the inspiration for Disney's hit movie The Princess and the Frog!), Dragon's Breath, Once Upon A Curse, No Place for Magic, The Salamander Spell, The Dragon Princess, Dragon Kiss, A Prince Among Frogs, and The Frog Princess Returns, as well as the Tales of the Frog Princess series, the Tales of the Wide-Awake Princess series, the Fairy-Tale Matchmaker series, the Magic Animal Rescue series, the More Than a Princess series, and other delightful books for young readers including Fairy Wings, Fairy Lies, and A Question of Magic. She lives with her family and their many animals in Maryland.


Visit talesofedbaker.com for special giveaways and to learn more about all of E.D. Baker's books!

Editorial Reviews

"This debut novel follows the adventures of a 14-year-old princess and the talking frog she meets one day in a swamp," said PW. "The tale offers peppy dialogue and some comical scenes." Ages 8-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4-6-An amusing fairy-tale adventure that takes the frog-turned-prince story a little further. Princess Emeralda is incredibly clumsy, she brays like a donkey when she laughs, and she would rather spend time outdoors or learning magic from her witch-aunt Grassina than marry self-centered Prince Jorge. When she runs off to the nearby swamp, she meets "Frog" who, naturally, claims to be an enchanted prince and begs her for a spell-breaking kiss. But when she finally complies, something goes terribly wrong, and suddenly Emma is a green-skinned, pond-hopping frog. She and Eadric spend the rest of the book trying to undo the spells that have bewitched them, struggling to avoid a dragon, a frog-eating dog, and an inept angry witch along the way. When they are finally released from their enchantments, it's clear they will live a happy-if rather unconventional-life together. Baker's characters, especially Emma and Eadric, are more than meets the eye. The tale moves at a good pace, and, though the happy ending is predictable, the trials and tribulations that precede it are interesting. However, it's difficult to determine the book's audience. While the story would appeal to primary to intermediate grade girls, the vocabulary is rather sophisticated and seems to be more suited to young adults. Perhaps it would work best as a read-aloud. For fairy-tale themes more in tune with their specific audiences, turn to Donna Jo Napoli's The Prince of the Pond (Dutton, 1992) for intermediates, and her Zel (Puffin, 1998) or Beast (Atheneum, 2000) for the older crowd.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Taking a princess's-eye view, Baker reworks the traditional story into high-spirited romantic comedy. Desperate for any alternative to a forced marriage, Princess Emma nerves herself to kiss a talking frog--and turns into one herself. As curses can only be removed by the witch who casts them, Emma and glib new acquaintance Prince Eadric of Upper Montevista set out to hunt her up. Fraught with dangers and punctuated with droll interludes as Emma struggles to get the hang of her new limbs and tongue, this shared quest is, naturally, just the ticket for cementing a close relationship. Boastful, libidinous, tender of ego, reckless, and unable to look beyond the next meal, Eadric is less archetypal hero than typical specimen of inept male, but he does have a good heart, and by the time the two achieve human form again, Emma will have no other--for a friend, that is: marriage will have to wait until she finishes a course in witchcraft. Like Donna Jo Napoli's Prince of the Pond (1992), this gives the well-known folktale a decidedly less than "Grimm" cast, and fans of Gail Carson Levine's "Princess Tales" should leap for it. (Fiction. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews

High-spirited romantic comedy. . . . Fans of Gail Carson Levine's Princess Tales should leap for it.” —Kirkus Reviews on The Frog Princess

“As magically adventurous as fantasy can get.” —VOYA on Dragon's Breath

“Baker's vividly imagined fantasy world . . . [is] irresistible and loaded with humor.” —VOYA on Once Upon a Curse

“Kids will get a kick out of the hip Shrek vibe that Baker creates in this updated fairy tale.” —School Library Journal on No Place for Magic

From the Publisher

While this twist on the fairy tale “The Frog Prince” is well read by Katherine Kellgren, she sounds too old for 14-year-old Emma. She is convincing as Aunt Christine and other adult witches and at the story’s detailed look into a frog’s world, including the tastiness of various bugs and descriptions of a frog’s slimy skin. As Kellgren successfully contrasts Emma’s awkwardness as a princess with her gracefulness as a frog, we grow to appreciate the character’s wits and adaptability. Kellgren’s delivery of the ending is bouncy as everyone is turned back into humans and lives happily ever after. A.G.H. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 05 - AudioFile