The Bird, the Frog, and the Light: A Fable

by Avi, Matthew Henry (Illustrator)

A frog learns the truth about his self-importance when he meets a bird whose simple song brings the sun's light to the world.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Avi is a pen name for Edward Irving Wortis, but he says, "The fact is, Avi is the only name I use." Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and the Crispin series. His work is popular among readers young and old.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this not better known & loved? Avi's genius shines through, and the art is vibrant & appealing. And I can certainly think of more than one world leader who should have read this when he was a child.... Highly recommended to all families with children at least age 4 (?), and all who love picture-books.

[Austin Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it because the frog king had a army, a throne, money, a library, but really the money was a penny, the library was a phone book, his army was a tin can, and his throne was a chicken coop I liked that because that was funny :)>

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A frog learns the truth about his self-importance when he meets a bird whose simple song brings the sun’s light to the world.

[Leigh]

Title: The Bird, the Frog, and the Light
Author: Avi
Illustrator: Matthew Henry
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Animals, Royalty, Light, Truth, Compassion
Opening line/sentence: There once was a Bird who greeted the Sun each morning with a song.
Brief Book Summary: In this book, a bird sings every morning to greet the sun. One day, it’s interrupted by a frog, claiming to be the world’s most important king, and ruler of an underground kingdom. The frog ends up forcing the bird to bring a ray of light from the sun to his underground kingdom, only to reveal he has a collection of junk instead of wealth and treasures. In the end, the compassionate bird ends up helping the frog again by teaching him how to read.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly A pretty bird opens each day by singing: although her song is ``nothing very special,'' it nonetheless causes the sun to beam. This bucolic routine is interrupted one day by a pompous, bossy frog, who leads the bird to his underground kingdom and directs her to the many signs of his greatness--marble palace, ancient throne, massive army. Because his kingdom is pitch black, these things can be only felt, not seen. At the frog's insistence, the bird illuminates the underworld with a ray from her friend the sun, revealing the ``kingdom'' to be no more than a collection of dingy leavings--a stone, a box, a tin can--and forcing the frog, however grudgingly, to renounce his grandiosity. Avi's dry wit leads to a pungent telling, with lessons about the power and pitfalls of delusion kept humorous and light. In an impressive picture-book debut, Henry adds finely textured paintings that aptly evoke both the airy, sun-bathed earth and the ambiguous darkness of the frog's lair. His frog king--dour, imperious, literally inflated with his own importance--is a comic masterstroke. A deceptively simple tale packed with clever verbal and visual details. Ages 5-7. (Mar.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: School Library Journal - School Library Journal K-Gr 3-One day the bird who wakes the sun with song is captured by a pompous, puffed-up frog who thinks himself king of the underground world. When, at the frog's command, the bird brings a single sun ray to his dark kingdom, his possessions and subjects are shown to be nothing but bits of trash. He has been deceived in his wealth, his subjects, and even his library, which is only a scrap from a telephone book. The frog, humbled by knowledge of his error, asks the bird to teach him to read from the tattered ``R'' page of the phone book. The message of the value of reading seems tacked on to this curious tale of enlightenment. The moral of the fable is the necessity of seeing one's situation truly, informed by the light of truth and/or understanding. The frog, in the end, suddenly sees a connection between learning to read and seeing the light, but it will not be clear to readers. The bird, as the bearer of truth and the one who greets the sun, is never explained. The story is elaborately and handsomely illustrated with full-page, bordered paintings.-Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I found the School Library Journal’s interpretation of this book to be very sophisticated and creative. The connection between the frog seeing the light and yearning how to read has to do with the ray of light revealing the truth. I also like how the Publisher Weekly’s recommendation mentions that Avi’s style of writing keeps a somewhat serious subject light for young readers.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: First off, I really enjoyed the full page illustrations, and the varying shades of dark and light used throughout this text. I also really liked how this book had a positive take away message. Not only does this book emphasize the importance of reading/learning, but the idea of compassion and friendship is also present. Consideration of Instructional Application: I think this book would be beneficial in a 1st-5th grade classroom. Younger students could read the text as an introduction to a unit about different genres of writing, such as legends, and older students can analyze the text and come up with their own interpretation of the story.

[Katie Dangle]

Title: The Bird, the Frog, and the Light
Author: Avi
Illustrator: Matthew Henry
Genre: Fable
Theme(s): Vulnerability, Ego, Friendship, Helpfulness, Humility
Opening line/sentence: There once was a Bird who greeted the Sun each morning with a song.
Brief Book Summary: A Frog King thinks of himself as the most important king in the world and one day he hears the bird singing to the sun. The Frog King brings the bird underground to his kingdom filled with an army, coins, food, and more. The Frog King’s kingdom is so dark that the bird can not see his prized possessions, so he insists that the bird sing her song for him so that the sun will shine on his kingdom. When the bird brings the light to the Frog King it is revealed that is prized possessions are not actually there.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Horn Book Guide
K-3 series. After he imperiously commands Bird to fetch one of the sun's rays to illuminate the wealth in his underground palace, the pompous Frog King learns a valuable lesson in humility when his magnificent kingdom turns out to be nothing but a grand illusion. Bejeweled borders and precise acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations aptly convey the tone of the cautionary fable about enlightenment.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
A pretty bird opens each day by singing: although her song is “nothing very special,” it nonetheless causes the sun to beam. This bucolic routine is interrupted one day by a pompous, bossy frog, who leads the bird to his underground kingdom and directs her to the many signs of his greatness--marble palace, ancient throne, massive army. Because his kingdom is pitch black, these things can be only felt, not seen. At the frog's insistence, the bird illuminates the underworld with a ray from her friend the sun, revealing the ``kingdom'' to be no more than a collection of dingy leavings--a stone, a box, a tin can--and forcing the frog, however grudgingly, to renounce his grandiosity. Avi's dry wit leads to a pungent telling, with lessons about the power and pitfalls of delusion kept humorous and light. In an impressive picture-book debut, Henry adds finely textured paintings that aptly evoke both the airy, sun-bathed earth and the ambiguous darkness of the frog's lair. His frog king--dour, imperious, literally inflated with his own importance--is a comic masterstroke. A deceptively simple tale packed with clever verbal and visual details.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: This story does incorporate humor into it with illustrations that help bring the characters to life. The images of the Frog’s dark underground kingdom and the Bird’s bright earth also really bring out the traits of the characters. Both reviews comment about the tone of the story and that it is brought out by the illustrations, which help appeal to young readers.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The author’s use of characterization in this story helps bring these characters to life. In this story the two main characters are the complete opposite and their strengths and weaknesses are both clear. Through the help of the Bird the Frog King develops in a positive way and changes to be less selfish. The characterization in this story is what makes it memorable to readers.
Consideration of Instructional Application: To focus on characters, I would have my students list the Bird and the Frog King’s traits out on a poster board together after a read-aloud. The main understanding I would want them to get from this story would be how the characters change throughout the story and why their opposite traits help create a helpful friendship in the end. I could take this into a writer’s workshop as well by having my students re-create the characters with different traits and to re-tell the story with the new characters.

[Bethany Ayers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be classified as a fable. It is about a Frog King that needs a birds help getting the sun's light into his dark hole where his kingdom is. The bird is the only thing that can make the sun come out by singing, so the bird gets a ray of sunlight and brings it to the Frog King's Kingdom. When he could finally see his kingdom, it wasn't near as beautiful as what he thought it would be. The Frog King became very discouraged and told the bird that he couldn't even read. At the end of the book, the Frog King had asked the bird to help him learn to read.
I believe this book would be best for younger children, Kindergarten and maybe 1st grade.
If you wanted to do a science lesson on birds, spring, and nature, this would be a great book to read. You could discuss with the class why birds start to sing in the spring. And you could also go outside and try to see if you can hear any birds singing.

[Danielle Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good fable, however I don't see the discrete lesson that is supposed to be from the book. If I can't exactly determine what is expected to be learned, it will be difficult for a young child. The story was nice and simple. I liked how it included the sense of touch strongly within the story. The pictures are more dark and spooky that other children's books. If I used this book in the classroom it would be to show that some things aren't aways as great as we imagine them. I would also make the students see how they would react if they couldn't see the world around them.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmm, not sure what I think about this. A self-important frog king tricks a bird into bringing a ray of light to his underground kingdom. In the light, the frog's kingdom is revealed as a figment of his imagination and he is left with nothing. However, seeking out the bird he tricked, the frog reveals that he is not able to read ... so the bird agrees to teach him and bring real light to his life.

[Junessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story about a frog who sees things in a different light. Not Avi's best work.