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The Frog with the Big Mouth
In the rainforest, a frog with a very big mouth catches an enormous fly. The frog brags to a toucan, a coati, and a capybara. Wanting to brag just a little longer, he tells a jaguar. Guess what jaguars like to eat?
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Teresa Bateman
38 books54 followersTeresa Bateman was born in Moscow, Idaho, but moved to Washington State when she was three-years-old and that's where she has lived most of her life.
An avid writer and reader, Teresa has been making up stories and poems since she was in grade school. "To me it was as natural as breathing," says Teresa.
In school Teresa would drive her teachers crazy by 'creatively' completing assignments. She always met the letter of their assignment, if not the spirit. She worked hard to inject some humor into her work, knowing that the teachers would be reading hundreds of papers and wanting hers to stand out. It worked.
Teresa took English classes for fun in college and when she applied for a Washington State Teaching credential, the state looked at her transcripts and added an endorsement to teach English through the 12th grade!
Teresa cites her teacher Donnell Hunter at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, as having a big influence on her and her writing. He published a class magazine to which the class submitted their work under pen names. Their grades depended on how many stories were included in the magazine. Teresa submitted under about 15 different pen names--just to be annoying! But she knew her work was being judged on its merits alone. Mr. Hunter encouraged her journal writing and instilled in Teresa good writing habits that she continues to this day.
Teresa served an 18-month mission for her church in Argentina, and taught school for a year in Honduras. She also taught school briefly in St. Mary's, Alaska -- a little bush village with a population of 500 in the winter and 50 in the summer. She has been a librarian in the Federal Way School District in Washington for over 30 years.
Teresa writes every single day. She also works full-time, so that means some days she doesn't write much, but she always writes. When at home, Teresa's special spot for writing has a good view of the lilac bushes outside. A picture of a winding path through gentle rolling hills and meadows hangs on the wall. She tells herself, when stuck for an idea, that the story lies at the end of that path.
Teresa lives in Tacoma, Washington.
An avid writer and reader, Teresa has been making up stories and poems since she was in grade school. "To me it was as natural as breathing," says Teresa.
In school Teresa would drive her teachers crazy by 'creatively' completing assignments. She always met the letter of their assignment, if not the spirit. She worked hard to inject some humor into her work, knowing that the teachers would be reading hundreds of papers and wanting hers to stand out. It worked.
Teresa took English classes for fun in college and when she applied for a Washington State Teaching credential, the state looked at her transcripts and added an endorsement to teach English through the 12th grade!
Teresa cites her teacher Donnell Hunter at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, as having a big influence on her and her writing. He published a class magazine to which the class submitted their work under pen names. Their grades depended on how many stories were included in the magazine. Teresa submitted under about 15 different pen names--just to be annoying! But she knew her work was being judged on its merits alone. Mr. Hunter encouraged her journal writing and instilled in Teresa good writing habits that she continues to this day.
Teresa served an 18-month mission for her church in Argentina, and taught school for a year in Honduras. She also taught school briefly in St. Mary's, Alaska -- a little bush village with a population of 500 in the winter and 50 in the summer. She has been a librarian in the Federal Way School District in Washington for over 30 years.
Teresa writes every single day. She also works full-time, so that means some days she doesn't write much, but she always writes. When at home, Teresa's special spot for writing has a good view of the lilac bushes outside. A picture of a winding path through gentle rolling hills and meadows hangs on the wall. She tells herself, when stuck for an idea, that the story lies at the end of that path.
Teresa lives in Tacoma, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 16, 2008
This version of the Wide-Mouth Frog is different from what I'm used to but entertaining just the same. The frog with the big mouth visits other animals like toco toucans, coatis, capybaras and jaguars. As each animal introduces himself, they do so in rhyme.
The plot of the story is that Frog brags about himself and his bragging almost gets him into some serious trouble!
The plot of the story is that Frog brags about himself and his bragging almost gets him into some serious trouble!
September 26, 2008
A South American version of one of my favorite story telling stories--the version I know is from the Southern swamps.
Nice bright illustrations and a well written text with just enough rhyme and cadence to make it a good read aloud choice.
Nice bright illustrations and a well written text with just enough rhyme and cadence to make it a good read aloud choice.
October 14, 2023
A big-mouthed frog hops around the rainforest near the border of Argentina and Brazil in this folktale retelling, bragging to every animal he meets—a toco toucan, a coati, and a capybara—about his skill at catching flies. When he meets a jaguar, and discovers that this new acquaintance likes to eats frogs(!), our acrine hero suddenly has no time for more bragging, high-tailing it home as fast as he can go...
An amusing story that highlights the foolishness of boasting, The Frog with the Big Mouth is apparently a retelling of a tale told to author Teresa Bateman while she was living in Argentina. For this reason I have categorized it as "Argentine folklore," although no further information is given as to source material. There is a similar folk story from the southern United States, The Wide-Mouthed Frog , but as to the relationship (if any) between the tales—do they have a common origin/ur story, did they originate separately, is one just a transplanted version of the other?—that I do not know, and have not been able to discover (although I'd love to find out). In any case, the tale related here is engaging, with a repetitive structure in which the frog praises himself, asks the animals he encounters about what they eat, and is then answered in rhyme. The accompanying illustrations from Will Terry are vividly colorful, and quite expressive, capturing the humor of the story. The book closes with some information about the animal species mentioned, offering a nice non-fictional counterpart to the fictional tale. Recommended to young folktale enthusiasts, and to anyone seeking froggy reading fare for the picture book set.
An amusing story that highlights the foolishness of boasting, The Frog with the Big Mouth is apparently a retelling of a tale told to author Teresa Bateman while she was living in Argentina. For this reason I have categorized it as "Argentine folklore," although no further information is given as to source material. There is a similar folk story from the southern United States, The Wide-Mouthed Frog , but as to the relationship (if any) between the tales—do they have a common origin/ur story, did they originate separately, is one just a transplanted version of the other?—that I do not know, and have not been able to discover (although I'd love to find out). In any case, the tale related here is engaging, with a repetitive structure in which the frog praises himself, asks the animals he encounters about what they eat, and is then answered in rhyme. The accompanying illustrations from Will Terry are vividly colorful, and quite expressive, capturing the humor of the story. The book closes with some information about the animal species mentioned, offering a nice non-fictional counterpart to the fictional tale. Recommended to young folktale enthusiasts, and to anyone seeking froggy reading fare for the picture book set.
May 11, 2017
Good frog book for story time. What sets this one apart is the setting -South American rainforest- and the unusual animals we encounter including the toucan, coati, capybara, and a jaguar. Digital illustrations are colorful and eye catching.
January 16, 2021
A frog eats the biggest fly. He travels to see other animals and try to impress them. Then he runs into a jaguar.
Tags: Horned frogs -- Frogs -- Rain forest animals -- Animals -- South America --
May 6, 2018
Animals in this book: Toco toucans, coatis, capybaras, jaguars and Argentine wide-mouthed frogs retold by Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Will Terry.
November 6, 2018
Cute and educational! Teaches about the various animals of South America, specifically Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Could be good for a storytime, maybe accompanied by a song too.
February 15, 2019
Would use in a preschool story time or for an elementary book club talking about rain-forests and the creatures within them. You could also use it in a book about bragging.
March 16, 2020
deserves more than 5 stars!! such a fun read, i enjoy the illustrations. lots of learning to be had. i love that. must read. i am really enjoying this author Teresa Bateman.
June 20, 2025
My sons class loves this book
December 21, 2022
The illustrations in this book are remarkable and gorgeous.
A very young frog with much to learn brags that he caught the biggest fly with his big mouth. He hops around in the rainforest asking animals he meets who they are and what they eat. Each time they answer that they don't care for flies, and he leaves saying, "Don't you wish you were me?" Soon he asks the wrong animal, and as the story ends he has a new question. Funny ending to an interesting, entertaining story.
In the back of the book is information about the animals in the story - toco toucans, coatis, capybaras, jaguars, Argentine wide-mouthed frogs.
A very young frog with much to learn brags that he caught the biggest fly with his big mouth. He hops around in the rainforest asking animals he meets who they are and what they eat. Each time they answer that they don't care for flies, and he leaves saying, "Don't you wish you were me?" Soon he asks the wrong animal, and as the story ends he has a new question. Funny ending to an interesting, entertaining story.
In the back of the book is information about the animals in the story - toco toucans, coatis, capybaras, jaguars, Argentine wide-mouthed frogs.
March 22, 2014
This is an entertaining story about an Argentine wide-mouth frog who brags to different animals about the fly he ate. The narrative has some repetitive and some rhyming parts and combined with the colorful and cartoonish illustrations, it's a fun story to read aloud.
I especially liked the author's note at the end of the book that explains more about the animals featured in the story. The book jacket states that it's a retelling of a traditional tale, but it's not one that I'm familiar with and I would've loved to have a little background on the story. We enjoyed reading this book together.
I especially liked the author's note at the end of the book that explains more about the animals featured in the story. The book jacket states that it's a retelling of a traditional tale, but it's not one that I'm familiar with and I would've loved to have a little background on the story. We enjoyed reading this book together.
March 9, 2009
This is a new, beautiful version of the Wide Mouthed Frog story. In this version, there is a frog that lives in the rainforest in Brazil. He eats a huge fly and decides that he just ate the biggest frog in the world and everyone should be jealous of that! His family is not impressed, so he goes off to find someone who will be impressed. He comes across several animals, all of which live in the rainforests of Brazil and none of which eat flies. They each talk about what they DO eat and let the frog know they don
March 12, 2015
I think the kids would have enjoyed this book more if they were more familiar with the jungle animals, but they spent too much attention trying to figure out each animal the frog encounters. And they didn't seem to understand that the frog didn't learn his lesson at the end. But it's a fun book to read out loud!
October 17, 2008
It's hard to compete with a pop-up book for crowd appeal but this version of "The Wide-Mouthed Frog" does pretty well. The illustrations are really nice and the story has more meat to it. Takes place in the rainforest with toucans, coutis, capybaras, and jaguars.
December 9, 2011
This is cute book about a frog in the rainforest who brags to all the animals about eating a fly but goes to far when he brags to a jaguar. This is a good book to use to teach students about being humble and not to brag.
June 22, 2014
My kids really enjoy this book. We have read it over and over. It is the story of the big mouth frog who goes around bragging about himself, and almost ends up getting eaten. In the end he doesn't seem to have learned his lesson, but my kids have.
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January 20, 2009Ribbit, a great frog book.
May 29, 2009
Great one to read aloud. Plus the pictures are gorgeous (and humorous at the same time)!
July 11, 2009
It's fun to read, but I kind of want the frog to get his due and be eaten at the end.
December 10, 2009
"frogs, big mouth, jungle animals, different foods, bragging, same plot as wide mouth frog pop-up, but with a lot of animal details, and much longer, fact sheet at end of book"
May 15, 2012
Some interesting animal facts, but the frog is annoying, and the rhythm of the language is not consistent.
September 7, 2016
Cute! Using for a 3&4 year old storytime.
October 30, 2014
One of Teresa Bateman's many animal books, this has to be the best illustrations that she has had in one of her books! Would definitely be interesting to younger students !
November 27, 2016
A bit like The Wide-Mouthed Frog but a twist at the end. Vibrant illustrations. Good intro to rainforest animals.
September 18, 2008
Loved the illustrations.
December 19, 2009
The simple story of the dangers of too much bragging. Lesson learned?
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews