Hugo & the Bully Frogs

by Francesca Simon, Carolyn Jayne Church (Illustrations)

Poor Hugo! What can one small frog--with a squeaky little croak--do against a big, bad gang of bullies? Every animal has a suggestion about how he can defend himself, but Hugo is just too timid to do anything. Then bossy Duck comes by with an answer--and the next time the Bullyfrogs appear, they meet quite a different Hugo. Every child who has ever had to put up with a bully will take heart from this clever and reassuring tale. 32 pages (all in color), 8 1/2 x 10 1/4.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1999

About the author

Francesca Simon grew up in California and attended both Yale and Oxford Universities, where she specialised in Medieval Studies. How this prepared her to write children’s books she cannot imagine, but it did give her a thorough grounding in alliteration.

She then threw away a lucrative career as a medievalist and worked as a freelance journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Telegraph, and Vogue (US). After her son Joshua was born in 1989, she started writing children’s books full time. One of the UK’s best-selling children’s writers, Francesca has published over 50 books, including the immensely popular HORRID HENRY series, which has now sold over twelve million copies.

Francesca won the Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 at the British Book Awards for Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. HORRID HENRY is published in 24 countries and is also an animated CITV series. She lives in London with her husband, son, and Tibetan Spaniel, Shanti.

Reviews

[Tanika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a frog with a small croak (sound). He is bullied by other frogs and he won’t stand up for himself. His friends want him to start standing up for himself so they teach him. Now he has the courage to stand up to the bullies. He scared them and now they don’t mess with him anymore. This story is good for students who get picked on. This story will help them find their inner sound and tell bullies, No or Stop!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. I especially enjoyed how Hugo stood up to the bullies. I recommend this for young boys.