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The Legend of Frog #1
The Legend of Frog
The Legend of Frog is the first book in a brand new three-part series by award-winning and best-selling author, Guy Bass (Stitch Head and Stitch The Pirate's Eye). A mash-up of fairy tale, fantasy and science fiction with a hearty helping of humour, The Legend of Frog is sure to introduce Guy to a whole new raft of readers as well as delighting his legions of fans. Prince Frog is convinced he's destined to rule the world ...the trouble is, the world has ended. Undeterred, Frog sets out to claim his crown, armed with nothing more than a pair of Catastrophe Pants and his trusty stick, Basil Rathbone. But Frog soon realizes that the world isn't quite as ended as he thought. He discovers a magical kingdom, filled with wild landscapes, strange creatures ...and a princess sitting on his throne. Together with his new friend, Sheriff Explosion the sheep, Frog seeks to prove his princeliness and escape the clutches of the princess who's sure he'd make a better pet than a prince. But just when Frog thinks things can't get any worse, he discovers he is actually the prince of an invading alien army and that he's just given the go-ahead for an all-out alien invasion. Can he and the princess put aside their differences long enough to save the kingdom - and the world? It's time for Frog to decide whether to be a prince or a hero?
- GenresFantasy
Paperback
First published February 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Guy Bass
74 books48 followersGuy is an award-winning author whose children's books series include Stitch Head, Skeleton Keys, Dinkin Dings, Spynosaur, The Legend of Frog and Atomic! In 2010 Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things won the Blue Peter Award for Most Fun Book with Pictures.
Guy's has also written plays for both adults and children. He has previously been a theatre producer, illustrator, temp, gerbil whisperer and has acted his way out of several paper bags.
Guy spent his childhood reading comics and hoping one day to become a superhero. He spends his adulthood in more or less the same way.
Guy lives in London with his wife and no dog - yet.
Guy's has also written plays for both adults and children. He has previously been a theatre producer, illustrator, temp, gerbil whisperer and has acted his way out of several paper bags.
Guy spent his childhood reading comics and hoping one day to become a superhero. He spends his adulthood in more or less the same way.
Guy lives in London with his wife and no dog - yet.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 25, 2014
I read this with my 7-year-old daughter over several bedtimes. She really enjoyed it wanting more each time, and laughing out loud at funny bits in the story. She said, “He goes on an amazing adventure to the end of the world, but he finds out it’s not really the end of the world. My favourite part was when Frog went to see the princess, because she has a funny voice.”
The story starts (once upon the end of the world…) with Frog stuck on an island at the edge of the end of the world. Frog has “bright, mottled green skin, bulbous yellow eyes, and not a single hair on his head.” Basically he is like a talking frog, except he has a destiny to fulfill, what with him being the “Royal Majesty, Lord of all Kingdoms, Rightful Ruler of the World… Prince Frog.”
So he ventures into the end of the world which turns out to be the not-so ended world, the fate of which is in his hands when he comes up against the Kroakans, aliens that are frog-like like him but want to bring the world to an end. This is the part where Frog must decide his fate which is intertwined with that of the world's.
My daughter enjoyed it very much and found it funny, so it comes highly recommended. The humour comes from the surreal-ness of situations, e.g. having a sheep as a trusty steed, and the characters, e.g. a barbarian who has a catchphrase. I never did master the Kroakan language bits though and didn't feel every chapter heading needed a Kroakan translation along with the English, not that I knew until half-way, but that is a small thing.
The story starts (once upon the end of the world…) with Frog stuck on an island at the edge of the end of the world. Frog has “bright, mottled green skin, bulbous yellow eyes, and not a single hair on his head.” Basically he is like a talking frog, except he has a destiny to fulfill, what with him being the “Royal Majesty, Lord of all Kingdoms, Rightful Ruler of the World… Prince Frog.”
So he ventures into the end of the world which turns out to be the not-so ended world, the fate of which is in his hands when he comes up against the Kroakans, aliens that are frog-like like him but want to bring the world to an end. This is the part where Frog must decide his fate which is intertwined with that of the world's.
My daughter enjoyed it very much and found it funny, so it comes highly recommended. The humour comes from the surreal-ness of situations, e.g. having a sheep as a trusty steed, and the characters, e.g. a barbarian who has a catchphrase. I never did master the Kroakan language bits though and didn't feel every chapter heading needed a Kroakan translation along with the English, not that I knew until half-way, but that is a small thing.
November 8, 2023
Funny quick read!
January 10, 2021
3,75*
It was fun to read to my son. He's still a baby, so he didn't understand a word but he liked the funny voices. Oldasdust was my favourite character, he was great to narrate.
The story is pretty fun, I wouldn't mind reading this again later. I think it's a good one for 6-10 year olds to enjoy.
It was fun to read to my son. He's still a baby, so he didn't understand a word but he liked the funny voices. Oldasdust was my favourite character, he was great to narrate.
The story is pretty fun, I wouldn't mind reading this again later. I think it's a good one for 6-10 year olds to enjoy.
March 28, 2020
4/5 stars
I found this a really hilarious children's book. It's perfect as a bedtime story for your children or even as an adult, it's really funny and well written with a hilarious Frog as the main character.
I found this a really hilarious children's book. It's perfect as a bedtime story for your children or even as an adult, it's really funny and well written with a hilarious Frog as the main character.
July 13, 2023
My 11-year-old's opinion of this book was: 'very weird and very funny', that's a pretty good description of The Legend of Frog. The story is kind of a riff on the Grimms Brothers' fairy tale The Frog Prince, with aliens and Armageddon thrown in.
On a tiny isolated island we meet little Prince Frog and his protector, Buttercup. She raised him as she would her own child and he is safe far away from the blackened skies and scorched earth that are all that remains of mighty Kingdomland. So Buttercup tells him. But Prince Frog wants to go and see for himself, and so begins a magnificent adventure complete with fairytale castle, a 5 year old Princess Rainbow complete with hulking bodyguard, wizard Oldasdust, a wolf that is the last of his kind and handy with a lightning bolt, trusty sheep companion Sheriff Explosion, swords, rayguns, invading green skinned aliens, Catastrophe Pants and an epic battle of good and evil where our hero has to find his worth.
In general this was a greatly enjoyable if frankly bonkers fusion of science fiction, fantasy and fairytale, but I did have problems with the parts of the book that are created to be facsimiles of Prince Frog's own diary. There are a lot of misspellings which are quite obviously deliberate but as a parent I worry that this would give the impression to a child that there is no need to improve beyond phonetic spelling. Don't get me wrong, there is one passage where Prince Frog's inability to spell is used brilliantly: he tries twice, unsuccessfully, to spell 'camouflage' and crosses his attempts out and writes 'invisible' instead. This is a funny reflection on the struggle to master the English language. Elsewhere 'chilled' is struck out and replaced with 'child', but the implication of correcting this one word is that the rest of the words in the diary need no correcting. Some of the misspellings are close to disastrous, one example is 'Buttercup raized the prince...'. This appears to be a misspelling of 'raised' but 'razed' would also work in this context, with far darker meaning. I am very familiar with authors who write in phonetically rendered dialect and I do understand what the author was trying to do: create a text that looks like Prince Frog's own writings, that is child like and accessible to young readers, but I don't think it is successful.
On a tiny isolated island we meet little Prince Frog and his protector, Buttercup. She raised him as she would her own child and he is safe far away from the blackened skies and scorched earth that are all that remains of mighty Kingdomland. So Buttercup tells him. But Prince Frog wants to go and see for himself, and so begins a magnificent adventure complete with fairytale castle, a 5 year old Princess Rainbow complete with hulking bodyguard, wizard Oldasdust, a wolf that is the last of his kind and handy with a lightning bolt, trusty sheep companion Sheriff Explosion, swords, rayguns, invading green skinned aliens, Catastrophe Pants and an epic battle of good and evil where our hero has to find his worth.
In general this was a greatly enjoyable if frankly bonkers fusion of science fiction, fantasy and fairytale, but I did have problems with the parts of the book that are created to be facsimiles of Prince Frog's own diary. There are a lot of misspellings which are quite obviously deliberate but as a parent I worry that this would give the impression to a child that there is no need to improve beyond phonetic spelling. Don't get me wrong, there is one passage where Prince Frog's inability to spell is used brilliantly: he tries twice, unsuccessfully, to spell 'camouflage' and crosses his attempts out and writes 'invisible' instead. This is a funny reflection on the struggle to master the English language. Elsewhere 'chilled' is struck out and replaced with 'child', but the implication of correcting this one word is that the rest of the words in the diary need no correcting. Some of the misspellings are close to disastrous, one example is 'Buttercup raized the prince...'. This appears to be a misspelling of 'raised' but 'razed' would also work in this context, with far darker meaning. I am very familiar with authors who write in phonetically rendered dialect and I do understand what the author was trying to do: create a text that looks like Prince Frog's own writings, that is child like and accessible to young readers, but I don't think it is successful.
February 17, 2014
The Legend of Frog marks the start of a new series for Guy Bass, author of the fantastic Stitch Head series. It's about a frog who's a prince, who travels to the end of the world in order to claim his royal throne. He rides a sheep, makes friends with a princess and finds lots of uses for his trusty stick-weapon called Basil Rathbone.
This book is completely crazy from page one, and starts as it means to go on! Truthfully, I thought it would be funnier, and more endearing like the Stitch Head books. I didn't like the characters as much this time around, though obviously Frog is super cool and I'm quite fond of his sheep-turned-steed. There's lots of action too, non-stop action really, which means there's never a dull moment!
There are lots of great illustrations throughout The Legend of Frog, all which compliment the text and make certain scenarios easier to imagine. I particularly like the image of a frog riding a Rarewolf - so brilliant! This is a fast, enjoyable start to a new series that I think will get better with each book. I'm intrigued enough to read on, and I hope Frog and Co. have another exciting adventure up their sleeves. We'll find out when Frog the Barbarian is published in summer 2014!
This book is completely crazy from page one, and starts as it means to go on! Truthfully, I thought it would be funnier, and more endearing like the Stitch Head books. I didn't like the characters as much this time around, though obviously Frog is super cool and I'm quite fond of his sheep-turned-steed. There's lots of action too, non-stop action really, which means there's never a dull moment!
There are lots of great illustrations throughout The Legend of Frog, all which compliment the text and make certain scenarios easier to imagine. I particularly like the image of a frog riding a Rarewolf - so brilliant! This is a fast, enjoyable start to a new series that I think will get better with each book. I'm intrigued enough to read on, and I hope Frog and Co. have another exciting adventure up their sleeves. We'll find out when Frog the Barbarian is published in summer 2014!
February 17, 2014
Review by Shelly
This is the hilarious tale of a frog, a princess and an all-out alien invasion. Frog is on a quest to search for his birth right and that means he must travel to the End of the World. So armed with his trusty sword, Basil Rathbone, and Catastrophe pants he sets off to stake claim to his royal throne.
This is a romping good read that I got through in one sitting. I thought the story was really funny and the characters really well written. Frog is a great lead and is very funny especially when we get glimpses of his diary – written like an 8 year old would write even though Frog is only 1! Even though Frog is the main character I have to say that my favourite would be Sheriff Explosion – his trusty steed. A joy to find out that he is in fact a sheep that cannot giddy up and has to be carried everywhere.
I would highly recommend this book to all young readers especially young boys as it is an easy read but really funny and will draw them in straight away. I mean what is not to love about a Frog who thinks he is a prince battling Aliens in bipods whilst putting up with a Princess who thinks he is destroying everything. I for one am hooked and cannot wait for the next tale.
This is the hilarious tale of a frog, a princess and an all-out alien invasion. Frog is on a quest to search for his birth right and that means he must travel to the End of the World. So armed with his trusty sword, Basil Rathbone, and Catastrophe pants he sets off to stake claim to his royal throne.
This is a romping good read that I got through in one sitting. I thought the story was really funny and the characters really well written. Frog is a great lead and is very funny especially when we get glimpses of his diary – written like an 8 year old would write even though Frog is only 1! Even though Frog is the main character I have to say that my favourite would be Sheriff Explosion – his trusty steed. A joy to find out that he is in fact a sheep that cannot giddy up and has to be carried everywhere.
I would highly recommend this book to all young readers especially young boys as it is an easy read but really funny and will draw them in straight away. I mean what is not to love about a Frog who thinks he is a prince battling Aliens in bipods whilst putting up with a Princess who thinks he is destroying everything. I for one am hooked and cannot wait for the next tale.
August 23, 2015
This took a while for me to realise where the plot was going, I didn't think the plot as a whole and the battle scenes specifically didn't flow very well. I didn't like Frog, he was entitled and arrogant at the start and the same at the end.
March 13, 2014
Good little book just right for my 10 year old grandaughter..lovely illustrations too, wtitten to capture the interest of young minds.
July 29, 2014
Loved this children's book so much and will now have to buy part 2 to find out what happens next. A blockbuster movie in the making!
July 23, 2014
Couldn't cope with this: it's one of those ultra-busy, wacky novels which I'm quite sure younger readers than me can enjoy with no problem! It's a nice idea, but too much for me.
May 21, 2016
Tak jsem si říkal s čím Guy Bass, autor super Záplaťáka přijde. A nakonec z toho nic moc není - přeplácané cosi s občasným vtípkem, nad kterým se maximálně pousměji. Škoda.
July 23, 2014
The frog's voice might be fun to read aloud, but the book just didn't grab me as an adult.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews