Review by Booklist Review
K^-Gr. 2. Frog has been burping steadily since he was a tadpole, but as he grows older he finds that his burps, once exclaimed over, are no longer acceptable. The other frogs hold a meeting and exile Frog up the river. It isn't long before he finds a community of frogs that belch freely with no apologies. But what seems like paradise soon pales, as Frog tires of burps, 24/7. Disguised with fake nose, mustache, and glasses, he returns home for the annual food festival, where his old compatriots eat so much that they let loose with some tremendous belches. At least they say, "Excuse me!" Kopelke's expansive acrylic illustrations are loaded with energy and exaggerated humor, including some gaseous explosions destined to prompt laughter as furniture flies. Kids are sure to enjoy this and yearn for the obvious, more disgusting, sequel. --Todd Morning
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Frog adores cricket tacos and worm burgers, and he doesn't mind that they give him gas. He espouses a philosophy that will score points with the gross-out crowd: " `Enthusiastic burping,' thought Frog, `not only feels good, but also makes room for dessert!' " After his fellow amphibians take offense and expel him from their town, Frog moves to a place where everyone burps with impunity. Yet "his new friends never stopped burping, and they never said excuse me. Frog became disgusted." He sneaks back home, where he learns to exercise restraint and ask for pardon when a croak slips out. Debut author/artist Kopelke renders the queasy sequence in bilious pine greens and mucky orange-browns, and details every spread with buzzing flies and squiggly nightcrawlers. She gives Frog the lumpy silhouette of an overfull trash bag, with heavy-lidded eyes suggesting a decadent contentment. His burps are transparent gray clouds. Onomatopoeic belches, printed in oversize type ("Buhrrraaap!"), encourage participation. Purportedly about good manners, this story likely will open the floodgates to rude noises, giggles and a chorus of "excuse me's." Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Frog has a problem. He loves to eat and he loves to burp. When he's a tadpole, the other frogs think his behavior is "cute," but as he gets bigger and his belches get louder, they begin to think it's quite disgusting. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, they send him "up the river." Far away from home, he hears burping in the nearby town and discovers other frogs that eat and burp day and night. At first life is blissful, but then even he becomes fed up with their bad manners. Spotting publicity about the Great Annual Frog Jam back home, he returns in disguise, "nervous that he would not be welcome." When he arrives, a crowd is already gathered around the Three-Beetle Chili, and the mayor's family and others are lapping it up. When Baby Mayor emits "a gigantic burp," everyone else follows, including Frog, and his disguise flies off. "You are excused!" Mr. Mayor declares, and the outcast is enthusiastically welcomed back. From the first page that introduces the lovable, bottle-green frog, fork in hand, to the final spread that shows lumpy green frogs in a circle, holding webbed hands, children will revel in Frog's antics. The scenes of slimy-looking food and clouds of belches come to life in warm-toned, acrylic spreads. This will be a great read-aloud, but get ready to hear listeners do some burping of their own.-Leslie Barban, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A burping frog is banished from his town, and in moving to a town of other burping frogs, he finds out why: it's disgusting. Frog's conversion to the anti-burp faction is sudden and facile, but the Lane-Smith-esque illustrations of sardonic frogs with clouds of burp shooting out of their mouths are smart and amusing. From HORN BOOK Fall 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The plot of this literally explosive debut may be perfunctory, but the premise will set off fits of giggles. A mighty belcher from tadpole days, "Enthusiastic burping not only feels good, but also makes room for dessert!," Frog is finally expelled by his disgusted neighbors, then gains a new attitude after falling in with a gang of unrestrained, enthusiastic, unabashed burpers. Wearing a disguise, he arrives back in his hometown just in time to join a gassy symphony set off by an excess of Three-Beetle Chili-and as he now follows his elephantine eructation with a polite "Excuse me," he is welcomed back. In postmodern, Lane Smith-like illustrations, newcomer Kopelke depicts burps as cannon-like blasts emanating from the mouths of creatures that look less like frogs than knobbly, misshapen toads. Still, properly "loaded" young readers will be unable-or at least unwilling-to resist joining in the repeated indelicate choruses (especially just after lunch of centipede souffles and mosquito pies, perhaps), and, of course, a lesson in proper manners is never amiss. (Picture book. 5-7)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
