The Frog In The Well

By: Irene Y. Tsai

Summary:

This is a retelling of a Chinese Proverb. It is in English, Chinese (characters) and Chinese (English phonetics). The frog lives in the well and thinks he knows everything. But he meets a turtle from the ocean, and realizes that the turtle knows things the frog does not know. The turtle, at least, knows that he (the turtle) does not know everything.

Reader Enjoyment Factors:

This picture book offers kids a story with a good moral and also how other cultures teach them.

Content Awareness Factors:

None.

Little Kid Reaction

My boys liked the story. They liked finding all the different animals in the pictures. I think my 5 year old was starting to get the moral of the story. We did not attempt the Chinese words at all, and the book was still reasonably interesting.

Parent Reaction

I did like the book. I thought the moral (lesson) of the story was different from most of the Western/American books have taught, and I appreciated that exposure to Eastern thought. The illustrations were effective at telling the story, but by no means farmable artwork. Still, they were very cute

Type of Book:
This is a picture book folktale in English and Chinese.

Educational Themes:

This is a book where you can explore the moral of the story (humility, pride), as well as the genre of folktales and cultural traditions.

Reading Level:
1.3

Recommended Age To Read By Yourself:
6 to 9

Recommended Age To Read Together:
3 to 6

Age of child:
Read with two boys, ages 3 and 5.

Purchase Recommendation:
Borrow. This is a nice book.

Title	The Frog in the Well
Author	Irene Y. Tsai
Publisher	CE Bilingual Books, LLC © 2008
Illustrators	Pattie Caprio
ISBN	9780980130515
Material	Hard Cover
Cost	$14.95
Genres	Fable \| Folklore, Foreign Language \| Bilingual