Product Description

Two green frogs love disobeying their mother. They always do the opposite of whatever she tells them to do—they stay in bed when she wakes them, they make a mess when she asks them to clean. They"re so contrary, they even croak backwards!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #218726 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Although its conclusion may sit uneasily with guilt-phobic Americans, this Korean folktale is so beguilingly retold and visualized with such individuality that it deserves a wide audience. The ebullient, sensory-overload style of illustration Heo brought to One Afternoon is turned down several notches here, creating a busy, funny, yet delicate backdrop in oil and pencil. The story focuses on two frog brothers who always do the opposite of what their beleaguered mother asks?they even croak backward. Well aware of her sons' contrariness, the mother, dying and wishing to be buried on the sunny side of a hill, tells them, "Please bury me in the shade by the stream." Ironically, this time they obey and bury her by the stream. When it rains, they beg the stream not to wash their mother's grave away, "and ever since then, whenever, it rains, green frogs sit by streams and cry." This is a strong lesson in obedience, but deftly rendered with a light touch. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 5^-8. What begins as a cheerful tale of naughtiness based on a Korean folktale (no notes are included) ends with a rather startling surprise. Crisp, exaggerated, rather sophisticated artwork, somewhat reminiscent of Lane Smith's style, depicts a pair of ebullient, contrary frogs, who refuse even to croak correctly. Their long-suffering mother knows that the best way to get them to obey is to request the opposite of what she wants. A problem arises, however, when her sons decide, in deference to their mother's memory, to follow her deathbed instructions to the letter. The story seems somewhat unbalanced--funny at the start, almost gloomy at the close, notwithstanding the legacy the frog children leave behind: "in Korea, children who don't listen to their mother are called chung-gaeguri or green frogs." But the artwork is dynamic--from the initial, lively double-page spreads depicting the antics of the naughty duo to the subdued illustrations of the tearful brothers begging the stream not to wash their mother's grave away. Stephanie Zvirin

From Kirkus Reviews
From a Korean folktale, the story of two frogs who always do the opposite of what their mother tells them. When it's time to wake up, they don't; when it's time to eat duckweed soup, they won't; when it's time to clean up, they make a mess; when it's time to be quiet, they start croaking. Their mother's dying wish is expressed carefully: So that she will be buried on the sunny side of the hill, she purposely asks her sons to bury her in the shade by the stream. Regretful of their past behavior, the sons obey her wish, which is why each time the stream threatens to flood her grave, they sit by the waters and weep. It's also why naughty children in Korea are called ``green frogs.'' Heo (Father's Rubber Shoes?, 1995) provides a gleefully fatalistic retelling, but the writing is surprisingly wooden. The magnificently eccentric illustrations, full of tortured proportions and twisted perspectives, depict three ungainly frogs surrounded by a bizarre variety of bugs, plants, wallpaper patterns, and little squiggles, all in an idiosyncratic palette of grimy green mixed with beige, pink, and blue. (Picture book/folklore. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Grimm style fairy tale
Just as many of the original, un-sanitized Grimm fairy tales were, well grim, this story, while charming, is a bit dark.

Having said that, the illustrations are absolutely charming and there is value to the story not being sweetened and told as it is.

They should have listened to their mother.
I love the playfulness of Yumi Heo's illustrations. They are cool and bursting with life. This folktale explains why naughty Korean children are called chung-gaeguri or green frogs. Karen Woodworth-Roman

Careful of the ending
Wonderful introduction to Korean folklore, with gorgeous illustrations. The story is about two frog children who do the opposite of what their mom asks. At the end (cover your eyes if you don't like the ending given away), the froggie boys learn their lesson when their mom dies. I actually change the ending when reading it to young children, but it could be a nice book for talking to kids about doing what they're told. It is also a pourquoi story, also known as an origin story, which gives an explanation for why frogs croak when it rains.