Bibliography:
Kimmel, Eric A. (2006). The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska. Ill. by Rosanne Litzinger. New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 0823416186.
Plot Summary:
A Tlingit princess is to find a suitor. She is unhappy with all her options and announces she would rather marry a frog. She runs away underwater with a frog person. Her parents try and find their daughter when they awake to her disappearance. The headman threatens the frog people: either give back the princess or they will go to war. The princess comes back to land but is very, very unhappy. The princess disappears once again and the frogs move from the lake. Later, a frog tells a traveler to tell the headman the princess is happy then hopped back in the water.
Critical Analysis:
Kimmel does an excellent job of retelling the Tlingit legend and Litzinger accompanies the words with nice illustrations.The illustrations reflect the text well, especially the emotions and body language of the characters. There were few characters in the folktale. The illustrations were soft and subdued with bright colors for the most part. Little extras such as pottery and/or small animals added nice detail to the pages.
As a folktale, the story line is well written. Kimmel uses very short sentences throughout the story. The story does not contain very much description overall. The features of the frog people were described well and depicted by the illustrations in a satisfactory manner. I was not impressed by the amount of detail in the story, however the folktale itself was impressive and does a fine job of portraying the moral. This would be an appropriate story to share with students at any age.
The closing of the story was disappointing. It left somewhat of a cliffhanger. My questions included the following: Does the princess live happily ever after with the frog people? Do her parents find peace without the princess? A frog does say to pass along a message to the headman that the princess is happy with her new life, but the story still felt open and unconcluded overall. When I picked this book up, I was not expecting the story presented. It was well received as a whole.
Awards Won:
The particular book The Frog Princess by Kimmel has not won any awards to my knowledge. Kimmel has won various awards for other texts.
Review excerpt from School Library Journal: "Bright swaths of watercolors illuminate the landscapes and backgrounds."
Connections:
--Author study: Eric A. Kimmel (other traditional tales include Medio Pollito, The Gingerbread Man, Bearhead: A Russian Folktale, and Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock - my personal favorite! See www.ericakimmel.com for an exhaustive list.)
--Culture connection: Use the book to begin a unit study on Alaska or the Tlingit tribe.
--Art connection: use the story to open up conversation about watercolors in artmaking
--Social connection: Use to teach about acceptance and happiness across all cultures/creatures
--Science connection: Students discuss amphibians
Source: School Library Journal. "Preschool to Grade 4: Nonfiction." School Library Journal, June 1, 2006. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6340933.html.
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