Jem's Frog Fiasco

Goldtown Beginnings #2

by Susan K. Marlow, Okan Bülbül (Illustrator)

Jem needs to buy food for his dog, Gold Nugget. But try as he may, his panning just never leads to gold. When he asks for a job, Mr. Sims, the caf� owner, sends him out to catch bullfrogs for the menu. Money and frog catching--what a great solution for this active boy!

But Nugget and Jem's little sister, Ellie, get in the way and ruin his plans. When he argues with Ellie, she stomps off in a huff, and Jem can get back to work. He heads home with a bucket full of frogs and the knowledge that he'll have plenty of cash for Nugget's food.

There's just one big problem--no one knows where Ellie has gone. She's disappeared! Search parties go out, but no matter where they look, there's no sign of her. And Jem knows that it's all his fault for yelling at her. Can he find Ellie before it's too late?

Genres: Christian

80 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2019

Reviews

[Laura]

JEM'S FROG FIASCO is book two in this series but it stands alone. Jem needs money to feed his hungry dog and he's hired to catch bull frogs for frog legs. But how easy is it to catch frogs with an active dog who loves to play in the water and a too-helpful preschooler? You'll want your beginning readers to read this historical froggy adventure. Great for homeschoolers with all the historical detail. The main character is a boy so this might appeal to boys, especially if they like westerns and bull frogs.

I was given a copy free. All opinions are my own.

[Karina (Karina's Christian Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number of pages: 77

Genre: Historical Fiction/Children’s fiction

Series: Goldtown Beginnings #2

Age recommendation: 5-10

Summary: Jem wants to earn money to help feed his dog. He gets a job catching frogs for Mr. Sims, but Ellie insists on tagging along and she’s scaring them all away!

My thoughts: This was another really cute story. I like that Jem is taking responsibility for his pet, and even at a young age trying to help out his family with the extra cost to feed his dog. It’s very mature of him.
I agree with Jem that frog legs sound like a terrible idea and I would not be eating them if I could help it.
These books really give a good idea of life a long time ago. It’s funny how Jem was so excited about possibly earning 30 cents! Minimum wage is about $15 an hour where I live so it’s just interesting to see how the value of things has changed.
I feel bad for Jem when Ellie goes missing. He wasn’t very nice to her, but he didn’t want her to get hurt or lost. He just wanted her to not be so annoying. I totally get his frustration with his little sister. When you’re small, everything seems like a big deal.
Overall, it was another really adorable book by Mrs. Marlow. I’d recommend it to elementary school children.

My personal rating: 4/5 stars.

Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I received a copy of Jem's Frog Fiasco in return for my honest opinion.

I read Jem's Frog Fiasco aloud to our two young children. They both enjoyed the story of Jem and his sister Ellie and eagerly awaited the next chapter to find out what was going to happen.

In this story, Jem finds the perfect way to earn some money to buy scraps of food for his new puppy, Nugget. The owner of the cafe asks him to catch frogs. Jem is required to take his younger sister froggin' and this leads to a fight between the two. Ellie is quite loud at her disgust when she picked up a squirmy frog and frightens all the frogs back into the water of the pond. After the argument, Ellie goes off on her own. Jem returns home with a full bucket of frogs to find that Ellie never returned home. Where is she?

Our son really enjoyed hearing about Jem's journey and it was great to relate Jem's not-so-nice treatment of his sister to our son's own life and how it treats his own sister. I love that I could use the story to encourage more empathy from our son.

I would recommend Jem's Frog Fiasco for children ages 6 and up. We eagerly await the next one in the series!

[Lindsay Bray · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
A cute sequel in the GoldTown Beginnings series. The kids I’m reading these books with are just loving these stories. Although the first one in the series was great, this one, (in my opinion,) was better. I found this story to be much more engaging, the kids didn’t want the story to end. We have already reread it a few times and we can’t wait to read the other books in this series. We are really loving discovering the past through Jem and Ellie and the adventures they have. What a fun way to learn about history!

[Ellen Senechal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one; I rate it five stars. Even my one-year-old sister benefited from this book! She carried it around, studying the cover and pretending to read, then brought it to Mom. Pointing to the frogs on the cover, she said, "Ribbit, ribbit!" Mom asked her to find other things in the book as well, and my sister enjoyed showing off the numerous illustrations to us both. :-) It was so sweet!
Anyway . . . more on the book: Jem takes on the job of catching frogs for the cafe owner in Goldtown, but his sister, Ellie, seems to get in his way all the time. Finally, after a big fight between the two, Ellie disappears. Where is she? Jem determines to find her and bring her home.
Like "Jem Strikes Gold," I recommend this book for girls and boys ages 6 and up. Through this book readers both young and old will learn the value of siblings . . . as well as the effect ugly words can have on people.

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun story about Jem. Well written for younger readers, and still enjoyable for older ones.
While I didn’t like that Jem wasn’t acting very nice to his sister, he knows his words are unkind and he feels guilty. Later he apologizes to her. I’m glad this wasn’t excused.
I sure wouldn't want to catch frogs!
I’m sure my younger nephews will enjoy this story.