Faiz KermaniCritiques

The Frog in the Skyscraper by Faiz Kermani is his second Frog book. It is an adorable children's chapter book that is recommended for children ages seven to nine years old. It could be read aloud to younger children as well. The illustrations were cute and colourful. Some of the language might be difficult for the younger readers but the 9 and even 10 year olds would be fine with reading this book independently.

The story is about a frog named Frijibold who lives in a pond in Central Park in New Your. He is bored with pond life and tired of hearing his uncle's songs. When he hears about Shark Fin Towers he goes to meet Sean Shark to rent an apartment. When Sean meets a talking frog he thinks he has just hit the jackpot. He lets Frijibold move in, then uses him as a marketing tool to fill the apartments. After a while, Sean Shark wants him to move out, but he misses the pond and moves out on his own. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence is a great message in this cute humorous story. A great chapter book for those young early readers.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very different story about a toad than what one might suspect. Tungtang the toad liked adventure. She was not content to sit in the pond everyday, she went off on adventures. When sharing a story with her friends, a bossy, bullying crow came along and starting teasing her and throwing acorns at her. The other toads began to doubt her stories. When she was challenged to go to town, she decided she would follow her dreams and head off. At this point, she is not sure what to do in the unfamiliar surroundings and ends up in a tea shop. She tasted some tea and decides she likes it. She learns about tea, the english language and almost becomes civilized while living there. Unfortunately for the owners, sipping other's tea. eating their pastries and leaving mud on the table upset customers and the owners almost lost the shop. They set a trap and eventually caught Tungtang. Imagine their surprise when she could talk and tell them about the tea. Fortunately for them, she became their tea taster and saved their shop.

There was a lot of humor in this story at the expense of humans. Talking about houses and cars was a hoot and then using expensive perfume instead of just rolling around in the things that mother nature provides made me chuckle. This was a fun story with adventure and humor. It shows kids that sometimes we have to ignore the nay sayers and follow our dreams. The illustrations were large and colourful. I would have liked to see more of them, but they added to the story well. This would be a cute chapter book for those early chapter readers as well as a good read aloud for younger children. This would be a good book in a family, classroom or school library. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Tungtang always thought of herself as an adventurous toad until one day a nasty crow laughs at her stories of adventure and tells her real adventure is going far away to somewhere you have never been. Tungtang decides that if she is going to be a real adventurer she needs to something different, something unheard of. She is going into the town!
Grandpa Nutbelch tells her about Dustysox the Great and his prophecy about a toad that goes on a journey and achieves great fame among the humans. Tungtang believes she is the one to fulfill the prophecy.

Once she gets to the town she takes up residence in a tea shop. She loves the smell and taste of all the different tea blends. She causes quite a lot of trouble in the shop during the day, stealing buns and upsetting tea cups but she always manages to escape detection. All this disruption is causing problems for the tea shop owners and the shop may have to be closed down. Will Tungtang be caught? Will the shop be closed down? How will Tungtang fulfill the prophecy?

This was a fun book to read and Tungtang was such a cheeky toad stealing sticky buns by day and hiding in the storeroom and rolling in the tea at night. Names like Lady Lobsterpants, Dustysox and Muddybum are sure to elicit a few giggles. Tungtang’s observations of humans and their ways was also quite amusing.
The illustrations by Korey Scott were colourful and brought the story to life.

The Toad Who Loved Tea is a wonderful story about adventure and discovering your true talent quite often lies in the things you love doing.
Written as a first introduction to chapter books with full page illustrations it is best recommended for ages 3 -7 years

Deep in Malawi, in the heart of Africa, lay Lake Ticklewater. It was the home of many creatures, but especially frogs, who lived there among the stones and wild plants. No one could remember why, but the Lake Ticklewater frogs were all blue. Apart from that, they were ordinary frogs.

Biriwita lived among a small community of happy frogs until one day he received an invitation to the famous Croak College, The best college in all of Malawi. He was nervous about leaving his family but Biriwita wanted to follow his dream, so he left for the college. When he arrived all the frogs were green and they laughed at him because he was blue. All the teasing and nasty words made Biriwita sad and scared so he hid from everyone. Biriwita is sitting alone watching the other frogs having fun in the water when he sees impending danger. A crocodile is slipping into the pond!
What will Biriwita a do? Can he save the green frogs?

Of course this story has a happy ending with all the frogs, green and blue, getting along.

The Frog Who Was Blue is a story about following your dreams even in the face of adversity and that someone being different isn’t a bad thing. Everyone can do great things.

The illustrations by Naomi Powell are in a freehand style and are playful and subdued.
I love Biriwita’s little pet snail who is always close by (with his little snail trail behind him) during Biriwita’s journey. A delightful addition!
You can view Naomi’s distinct artwork on her website. www.naomipowell.com

The double entendre in the title is one the children easily understood when I explained it to them.

Recommended for ages 3 – 7 years.

Unlike the other toads in Muddy River, Tungtang isn't content to sit on a stone and do nothing. She has a wanderlust that drives her to venture into human territory. She finds a new home in a tea shop, where she quickly develops a love for tea in all its varieties. The owners of the tea shop are at first puzzled by the muddy tracks that Tungtang leaves behind. When they finally discover the toad who has been inhabiting their tea shop, they also discover that she has a rare talent that will be of great benefit to them.

This colorfully illustrated chapter book is suitable for older elementary readers. It's rather text-heavy, so parents and teachers of younger children might need to read it in installments rather than in a single sitting. I am much older than a kindergartener and I wasn't able to read it in a single sitting. Parents and teachers might wish to know that there is some name-calling in the book, including “stupid.” I know many parents who do not allow their children to use this word in reference to another person.

This review is based on an electronic advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

This book is adorable. It had me laughing out loud. It's the story of Tungtang, a frog who goes to a town called Cobblestone to seek an adventure. While there, she takes refuge in a tea shop and learns all about humans. Here she shares her thoughts about them...

Unlike toads, who could have a deep and meaningful conversation by exchanging a few well-chosen croaks here and there, humans feel the need to talk loudly all the time - usually while the person they were speaking to was also speaking.

Not wanting to be discovered, Tangtung secretly tastes the various teas that are served to patrons and also steals the pastries that are served with the teas. Patrons are apalled at the muddy footprints they find on their tables and furious about their missing tea and their disappearing pastries. The store owners, Kamran and Lydia, finally discover Tangtung, but do not harm her after they discover that she has become quite a tea expert. This story has a very happy ending as Tangtung becomes the store's tea taster.

I would love to visit such a store! I wish that Tangtung were a real toad and could give lectures about the best teas to buy. I would attend her lectures!

This little book has some poetry which also made me laugh. Here is the poem that Tangtung recites while snuggling down in tea leaves she uses as a bed:

Toad for tea and tea for toad
How I love my humble abode
Rows of crates without an end
Filled with every luscious tea blend,

Pay attention to the very sweet art work by Korey Scott. If you don't usually like toads, you'll probably find an exception here, and fall in love with Tangtung by the end of this story.½

Tungtang the Toad sets off from Muddy River to town where she discovers a tea shop and discovers she loves it and can't get enough of it. However, the tea shop receives complaints because of muddy tables, missing tea, and missing pastries. Will the owners figure out what is happening? Will the toad continue to enjoy tea? You'll need to read this delightful book for children to find out. I received an advance electronic copy from the publisher through NetGalley with expectations of an honest review in exchange.

I love frogs so I was partial to this book before I even read it. I've read other books by this author before, but I like this one the best because it is geared to younger children so it's a book that can be shared out loud with someone. I just happen to have a three-year-old grandson to whom I can read it! The story is a cute one, about bullying, about cliques, about being different, and about learning to like who you are and also to like someone who is different than you.

My only gripe about the story is that the blue frog had to do something outstanding in order to be appreciated by the in-crowd of green frogs. Maybe this is just like life, but I wish it weren't so.

By the way, is it just coincidence that my grandson's favorite color is blue?

The illustrations by Naomi Powell are cute and funny. Be sure to note that the inside of the back cover is of the blue and green frogs playing "leap frog". Adorable!½

This lovely little book was written to support the World Medical Fund (WMF), a medical charity working in Africa, which focuses on the regions most vulnerable children. It is a simple story of Malawi, who comes from Lake Ticklewater, deep in the heart of Africa. All the frogs there, including Malawi are blue (which, of course, got "I'm in Love With a Big Blue Frog" running nonstop through my brain). However, when Malawi gets accepted to Croak College, he finds out that no other students are blue, just him. The green frogs tease him and shun him, and poor Malawi is broken hearted. But things happen, as they often do in stories like this, giving children a chance to be exposed to the message that being different is not necessarily a bad thing.

As a retired pediatric nurse, who worked with disabled children, this was a common occurrence for the children and families to get through. Kids who look different, have equipment to help them walk, talk, breathe, pee, eat, write, talk, can all be treated like blue frogs. It's not always an easy fix, and though this book is a nice beginning, I found myself remembering Digby Wolfe's poem, Kids who are Different.

Here’s to kids who are different,
Kids who don’t always get A's,
Kids who have ears
Twice the size of their peers,
And noses that go on for days.

Here’s to the kids who are different,
Kids they call crazy or dumb,
Kids who don’t fit,
With the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum.

Here’s to the kids who are different,
Kids with a mischievous streak,
For when they have grown,
As history has shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the author for a fair and honest review.½

Frijibold is one of the many frogs who live in the park's pond in the heart of New York City. But Frijibold is different. He considers himself an expert on humans. He has spent so much time listening to humans' conversations he can speak their language. The other frogs can't understand why he finds humans so interesting. And Frijibold can't understand why frogs waste their time croaking and lily pad jumping. Right now all the frogs are happily listening to Uncle Krustnut singing and playing his out-of-tune guitar. Uncle Krustnut emigrated long ago from the swamp, and all he can sing about is his childhood in there. Why would Frijibold care about the swamp? He haven't even seen it!

That's why when he hears about the Shark Fin Towers, a beautiful skyscraper opposite to the park, he can't think in anything else but moving there. He finally succeeds and moves to the apartment in the highest floor with a incredibly beautiful panoramic view of the city, but after a while things prove to be different from what he thought they would be.

I find this story original and very humorous. At the same time important topics as identity, expectations, disappointments, ethics, and environmental issues, are addressed.

I think it would work perfectly for independent readers, but might also work for a read aloud with younger/new readers. Some of the vocabulary might be challenging, but not enough as to give up on the book. The pictures are simple but cute, and I wish there were a few more.

The story includes the menu of the Mrs. Boggel's Pond Paradise Cafe and it's just hilarious. Spicy fried fly pizza, dragonfly fries, mashed moths, sugared spiderwebs, apple maggot pie, and chocolate chip crickets are only some of the many delicious options you will find!

Age range: 7 to 10 years old

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk

This is an amusing story about a frog who left the swamp and worked his way into getting his own penthouse in a New York City skyscraper. Life there did not turn out as pleasant as he thought it would, bringing to my mind the old adage that "there's no place like home".

This cute book is at times laugh-out-loud funny. I love its colorful illustrations; however these are scattered rather strangely on random pages. This book also has a four-page spread of a menu for frogs. You have to see this to believe it! The characters have some great names, such as Frijibold for the protagonist frog and Uncle Krustnut for Frijibold's uncle.

This story has several messages for school age children. Among them is to beware of shysters and to know that the grass sometimes seems greener elsewhere. In addition, it suggests to readers to appreciate their own home, family and friends. Those are good messages for anyone.

When I received this book through BookCrossing from the author, to help spread it, I was pleased and expectations were quite high.

For me, the combination of mathematics (a subject I'm very bad at), a frog and a mathematician was very interesting. I wondered how the concept would be worked out.

For me, the contents of the book did not work well. Flat Dr. Montblanc character and most of all his interaction with the frog.

I know what I lack in this story. It is one of two things: either the fairy tale/fable component that makes it possible that a frog knows mathematics (and is able to speak and behave more nicely). Or the rational component, that explains why a frog from the pond madters complex mathematics.

It is a story, with a moral, but I didn't like it very much. It feels unfinished, written "in between".

This children's book is cute and very funny. My favorite line in the story is this one: "...when you are being whacked with a broom every few seconds, it is inadvisable to stick around for a lengthy discussion." Haha! I like the vocabulary used to tell this story. I love the funny character names of the spiders: Golbo, Spognot, and Uncle Snotkrunch.

One thing did drive me crazy, though, was that the spiders were pictured with six legs. Spiders are arachnids and have eight legs. I know they also have eight eyes, but all those eyes don't need to be drawn. In future editions, do have illustrator Korey Scott add an additional pair of legs to each spider. Thanks! :)

This is a cute, very short chapter book starring a mathematics professor and a frog. It's rather funny until the ending...which I didn't quite like. However, I did appreciate the author sending me this book to read, review, and share with others and later to be released in my Little Free Library. I also liked having had the chance to read this quick, humorous story.

I loved the sweet pictures of Bobble in this book. I only wish Bobble had been here years ago when my younger son was in high school...to help him with mathematics! ;)

Adult Reader Reaction: It is hard not to love Golbo and Spognot, the blue and pink spiders. The pages are a little text-heavy for new readers, but the illustrations will entertain young listeners.

Pros: Cute characters and wonderfully imaginative events make this a fun adventure to share.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

This is a cute book. I can easily see upper-elementary readers (especially boys) interested in the topic, and I love the potential it has for inspiring kids to create their own creatures, both with visuals and text descriptions.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

I received a copy of this book from the author, to release and get the book travelling via BookCrossing. Reading the book was not required, but I did, and thought it a nice way to encourage maths and reinforce that cheaters never win. Plus it's colorfully illustrated, and has a clever frog. Will be releasing the book shortly. Thanks for sending this my way!½