The Frog Princess

by E.D. Baker

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Baker

Publication

New York : Scholastic Inc., [2003], c2002.

Description

After reluctantly kissing a frog, an awkward, fourteen-year-old princess suddenly finds herself a frog, too, and sets off with the prince to seek the means--and the self-confidence--to become human again.

User reviews

LibraryThing member pussreboots

The Frog Princess by E.D Baker is a humorous reworking of Grimms' "The Frog Prince"; it is also the inspiration for The Princess and the Frog released by the Walt Disney Company.

Princess Emeralda (aka Emma) has no interest in marrying Prince Jorge in an arranged marriage. She would rather spend

time mapping and exploring the swamp behind the castle. It's there that she meets a talking frog who listens to her problems. Eventually she gives in to his request to kiss him — knowing full well that some local witches use animal transformations as a means of removing annoying people from their lives. The usual solution is a kiss from a princess.

Now anyone who has watched The Princess and Frog knows that the kiss backfires. The reason given in the film is that the main character isn't a princess. The explanation in the book is fuzzier — whatever witch did the spell didn't follow the standard playbook.

Rather than have two competing sources of magic — Mama Otis for good magic and the Shadow Man for evil magic — there is instead, any number of witches working magic in and near the swamp. These witches don't align themselves as neatly as they do in Disney films, meaning that finding witch and the proper solution to her spell isn't as cut and dry.

Again, fans of the film will recognize a similar path of exploration through the castle swamp as through the bayou. The reasons, though, are completely different and there's no artificially imposed timeline. On the one hand, Emma and Eadric have more chances to make mistakes and take wrong turns. On the other hand, sometimes these scenes feel like padding.

That said, the complicated plot threads as well as a world of problems that extends beyond the initial trouble of an arranged marriage and being turned into a frog, gives Emma and Eadric more things to explore at the end of the book without the tidy Disney magical ending.

The second book in the series is Dragon's Breath and it is on my to be read list. There are eight books in total.

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LibraryThing member PitcherBooks

A nicely done and amusing bit of fairy tale fluff with a twist. Don't expect great literature but do expect some good fun. Great for the intended age group but a fun and fast read for adults who enjoy JF too :-)

LibraryThing member dulcibelle

I discovered this series by browsing the YA shelves at Barnes & Noble. It looked like a cute idea. This volume lived up to my expectations. I really enjoy the strong heroine and the idea that young people can accomplish big things.

LibraryThing member snapplechick

Such a cute book! Loved it, loved it loved it!Emma has a lot of adventures while trying to turn herself back into a human and even finds love on the way!

LibraryThing member sara_k

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker is a twist on the old tale of the princess who kisses a frog and he turns into a prince. Emeralda is a rebellious princess who will not fit into the role of Princess that her mother has defined. When Emeralda kisses an enchanted Frog Prince, he does not turn into a

human prince - she turns into a Frog Princess. Life as a frog is not easy, yu have to master tongue catching of bugs, bug eating, frog swimming, and identification and evasion of predators. It's a good thing that Emeralda has Eadric with her since he has years of experience being a frog.

Emeralda and Eadric journey to find a solution to their dilemma and along the way they find out about trust, the problems that can come from judging by appearance, and how choices made for a moment can affect our whole lives.

Very funny. Very punny. Strong but not perfect female characters (just like in real life).

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LibraryThing member Beary_Bookwormish

I love fairy tales, even more now that I have a little girl. When I read children's or young adult books I usually go for strong female heroine's. However I really seem to be enjoying a greater variety of works.
This book was like only having one hershey's kiss. I want the whole bag. I'm so ready

to read the rest of the series.
Just so you know my dd Tatyanna is 7, not a truly proficient reader. But what I've been doing is reading children's literature, then moving the books to my kids libraries. So they can read them at a later date. So far my son and I like the books I've been choosing.

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LibraryThing member vegaheim

elementary level, quick easy read. funny, hilarious, great (book 1 in trilogy: 2:dragons breath, 3: once upon a castle)

LibraryThing member readingrat

A fun twist on the traditional "Princess kissing a frog" fairy tale.

LibraryThing member booksandbosox

I'm feeling kind of ambivalent about this, but I'm going to read the next book to see if it gets better. Esmerelda is a clumsy princess who's not very good at princess things. One day as she wanders the swamp (unprincess-like behavior, to be sure), she encounters a talking frog. He claims to be

Prince Eadric, turned into a frog by a witch. All it will take to cure him of his malady is a kiss from a princess...

Certainly it starts as the familiar tale. But when Esmerelda (known as Emma) finally plants one on the frog, things go horribly awry. I liked the twist to the traditional tale and Emma and Eadric's adventures are rather enjoyable. The other characters they encounter are also quite interesting. I really enjoyed Grassina. However, Emma is awfully naive for a fourteen-year-old and the book as a whole felt a bit too cutesy. It had potential to be a much stronger tale. As I said, I'll give book two a go before calling it quits.

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LibraryThing member bjscheuter

I love fairy tales and especially ones that expand on the original. This was fun!

LibraryThing member Bonne

Reminds me of The Enchanted Dragon series. Cute.

LibraryThing member ElenaEstrada

This a darling book about a young girl who is a princess and lives in a magical kingdom. Her life as a princess is unsatisfying since she does not meet the "princess requirements" of being social, graceful, and lady-like. To make matters worse, her critical mother makes arrangements to marry her to

a self observed prince which she dislikes. Instead Princess Emeralda finds herself kissing an enchanted frog named Prince Eadrick. But something goes terribly wrong, and she is transformed into a frog herself. Now she must learn to survive in the animal kingdom where there is no royalty and danger lurks at every turn. Thus, her journey begins as Prince Eadrick and herself try to find ways of undoing a magic spell in order to transform themselves back into humans.

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LibraryThing member mrsdwilliams

Tales of the Frog Princess, book one.

14-year-old misfit Princess Esmerelda (who prefers to be called Emma) meets a talking frog at her favorite pond. He tells her that he is Prince Eadric and that a witch turned him into a frog after he insulted her. He convinces Emma to kiss him. However,

something goes wrong--instead of turning Eadric back into a human, the kiss turns Emma into a frog. Thus begins their hilarious adventures as they try to regain their human forms.

Cute fractured fairy tale. A quick, easy, and fun read that fairy tale fans will enjoy

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LibraryThing member Ilithyia

Cute enough that I'll read the rest. Interesting twist on the kissing a frog to get a prince idea. I'd like to know more about what happens to Emma and Eadric, lots of trouble, I'm sure. These are a nice fluff diversion, short - a little over 200 pages - read it in less than a day.

Not as good as

The Unhandsome Prince through, which I'll probably reread soon, because I found out John Moore has more fairytale spoofs - yay for being an anal bookseller who picks books up off of the floor at other people's bookstores (that's how I stumbled upon A Fate Worse than Dragons).

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LibraryThing member blackbrior

i thought this was a great book and it was a quick read, i cant wait to read the rest of them.

LibraryThing member NatashaCreates

Great story, well-written with unexpected twists and turns; can hold the attention of adults and children alike

LibraryThing member sablelexi

In this book, the main girl accidentally becomes a frog and must try to become human again, along w/ a prince she met who's also a frog. The series is very cute, the two main characters are like-able, and the plots are entertaining. I've found this in both the YA and MG sections of the bookstore,

but I definitely think that it falls closer to MG. Still I found an amusing story and continue to buy the series.

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LibraryThing member lindamamak

Nice switch on kiss a frog and turning into a prince. Lots of great characters.

LibraryThing member skcramer

Clumsy Princess Emeralda will do anything to escape an arranged marriage – even kiss an enchanted frog prince – but when that kiss turns her into a frog too, she must team up with the frog to find a way to turn them both into humans again. This fractured fairy tale incorporates many clever

twists on classic fairy tales, and its humorous mix of allusions coupled with likeable leads and snappy dialogue make for a lighthearted romantic comedy. Readers will certainly be rooting for the happily-ever-after ending, which comes, as expected, with a twist. Sadly, this novel’s strong beginning and ending are somewhat compromised by a rambling middle that take our heroes far from home, quite unnecessarily we soon learn. While perhaps not the strongest offering in the fractured fairy-tale genre, readers who have enjoyed Kaye’s The Ordinary Princess, Ferris’ Once Upon a Marigold or Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles may still wish to check out this title. Recommended for readers ages 8 to 12, though older lovers of fairy tales may enjoy it too.

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LibraryThing member leftik

I wanted so much more from this book. I think it's a fantastic premise, but under-developed for the age-range it's recommended for. I'd def. say it would be great for middle schoolers.

LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Emma is a clumsy awkward princess who does not want to marry the vain Prince Jorge. She sneaks away from the palace to avoid visiting with him an meets a talking frog who claims to have been Prince Eadric under a spell. He convinces Emma to kiss him to lift the spell but she too turns into a frog.

Only the witch who cast the spell can set it right. They go in search of the witch but get caught by another witch who intends to use their body parts in a spell. They manage to escape with the help of the witch's captive bat and get to Emma's magic-practicing aunt to see if she can help. In the process, Emma realizes she has magic capabilities herself which lead to Emma and Eadric becoming their true selves. Fairly tame YA; at most Eadric is lecherous about getting more kisses from Emma.

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LibraryThing member CanBeBribed

If you want something light-hearted, funny, with a chunk of magic, pick this up. =)

LibraryThing member Diavoletto

if you think about it.. its actually kind of a stupid book but in a good way

LibraryThing member adventures2

About: Emma is just a normal princess trying to get away from the prince her mother wants her to marry. She leaves one day and meets a frog who claims to be a prince. He says that if she kisses him he'll become a prince again. When she finally does kiss him, the unexpected happens....Emma turns

into a frog.
Review: It's a cute retelling of the story "The princess and the frog" and in my opinion much better than the movie. It's a fun short read, full of adventure, romance and comedy.
The bad: The only thing that bothered me about this story was Emma's age. It never says how old Eadric ( aka the frog prince) is but Emma is 14. She's 14 and her mother is already planning her wedding for that summer! I know people married young then, but 14.......I don't know what to say. And the scenes whenever Eadric is always wanting a kiss......well she is just 14.
All in all, really this is an awesome little story. Will Emma turn back into a human? Will Eadric become a human again? What is the life of a frog even like? Read "The Frog Princess" to find out.

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LibraryThing member RayleighAnn

This book was absolutely hysterical! I loved reading about Eadric, he was by far my favorite through the entire series! There was nothing inappropriate in this book and I think it would make a great family read aloud!

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