The Frog Prince Continued

By Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Steve Johnson

"The Princess kissed the frog.  He turned into a prince.  And they lived happily ever after..."  That is, until Jon Scieszka came along to tell us what happens next.  It turns out that the bliss does not last long for the Princess and the frog, for they are soon quite miserable together.  Although the frog is now a prince, his behavior still tends to be like that of a frog.  This drives the Princess crazy and she, in turn, drives the Prince crazy by complaining about everything he does.  When the Princess claims they might be better off if he were still a frog, the Prince takes off on his quest to find a witch who could turn him back into a frog.

The Frog Prince Continued is a delightful and imaginative story that puts a new spin on fairy tale endings.  The Frog Prince's quest for a witch to turn him into a frog leads him to a number of evil fairy tale characters that he ultimately runs from.  He "knew his fairy tales" and did not want to face the terrible fate that many others had faced before him.  Ultimately his journey is unsuccessful, for he is unable to find someone to make him a frog again.  However, all is not lost, for he realizes that he is in fact better off with the Princess, living happily ever after.  As is characteristic of traditional fantasies, this story has a happy ending, as he and his Princess do live happily ever after - as frogs.

The Frog Prince Continued is a fantastic story for reading aloud, but be sure to enjoy the pictures as well for they provide wonderful illustrations that set loose your imagination as you embark on this journey with the Frog Prince.  The journey provides a lot of action for the reader, and consistently provides a clear sense of good and evil.   The story is very humorous and resolves itself quite satisfactorily with an unexpected turn of events.