The sheer cuteness of Little Frog—who, it has to be said, looks as though he’s decended straight from (grandpa?) Kermit—is only outdone by his birthday present, a little duckling. After nibbling Little Frog’s nose and then being frighted by Puppy, our little duckling jumps right out of her new owner’s ‘hands’ onto his ‘toes’ before disappearing behind the fridge. The ensuing action involves Little Frog’s attempts to entice duckling out from behind the fridge and descriptions of all the party games she’s missing by hiding there. Kids will enjoy the consciously repetitious phrases, the traditional party games—egg and spoon race, pin the tail on the donkey, pass the parcel, treasure hunt—and author/illustrator Jenny Hale’s pastels are sweet and bright. The use of the present tense is refreshing, making the reader feel they’re invited to Little Frog’s party too, and kids will no doubt enjoy spotting the hidden duckling in each spread—unlike Little Duck, the reader knows duckling is not behind the fridge missing out on the party but is having fun of her own.

Matthia Dempsey is deputy editor of Bookseller+Publisher

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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