A Frog Prince: Favorite Fairy Tale

Yesterday I shared how to make an easy little Valentine Tree with twigs and felt scraps as well as sharing the rest of the mantel...

Which also included our melted crayon LOVE tiles.

...and also this little painted stone frog.

Firecracker was the one who thought he should be included.  (He'd previously lived on the bookshelf next to the mantel.)

When I got to thinking about it, he did seem to fit on a Valentine's mantel, because it reminded me to pull out one of my favorite fairy tales.

A Frog Prince by Alix Berenzy

I first came across this book as a teenager when I worked at the local library shelving books.  I'd keep my eye out for particularly amazing children's books thinking I'd build a stash for someday when I had kids.  I only ended up actually buying a couple (those were the days before the internet was big and cheap used books were easy to find), but this was one of them.

The story starts out like the traditional Frog Prince story, but has an unusual and endearing twist...and the illustrations are gorgeous!  The frog retrieves a ball from the bottom of a pond for a distraught (and very spoiled) princess who promises to be his friend and have him as a guest in the castle.  However, instead of turning into a prince when the princess is mean to him, the frog decides to go on a quest to find a princess who will truly appreciate him and see him for what he is.  After several kind, noble, and brave deeds, he eventually finds his princess asleep in a castle.

His kiss wakes her up, and she sees his princely character, even though is is just an "ordinary frog in fancy clothes."

And they are married and live happily ever after.

I think it has a great message about appearances and what truly makes people worth having as a friend.

Firecracker read the whole thing herself said her favorite part is when the nasty witch gets her eyes pecked out by the birds helping the frog escape.

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Modern Art Heart Original Painting from nJoyArt	Girl with the Savior Print from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio	Binary Love Pendant from Boutique Academia

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