The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone

I picked this up one day when I was wasting time at a book store purely because I thought it looked interesting. When I got it home I stuck it on the shelf and completly forgot about it. Then one day my three year old found it, and asked me to read it to him. That was about 3 months ago and we've read it almost every night. It's gotten to the point that I'll screw up the story just so my son can correct me. He's memorized every word. The story is fun, in an odd way, and the illustrations are a welcome break from the sickingly saccharine illustrations most children's books are saturated with. I wish Mr. Ering would publish another story soon, I'm getting tired of reading this book over and over...of course my son doesn't seem like he will ever tire of it.

The story is sweet, but the illustrations are really what make this book such a winner. Vaguely Tim Burton-ish, they're so stylistically appealing that anybody short of a total Scrooge would have to love this book upon leafing through it. I read this on a slow day when I worked in a bookshoppe, and I was so utterly charmed that I bought a copy for my then-boyfriend's three-year-old son. He never received that book; it turned out I was too in love with it to give it away, so I bought a second copy for him. He and his dad adored it. I then proceeded to recommend it to virtually every parent/godmother/uncle/etc. who came into the shoppe looking for a children's book, and at least five of them came back to say how much they/their child enjoy it. This is one of those rare children's books that kids request to be read over and over again, and makes adults smile that goofy "I've just been floored by a children's book" smile. In the same class as Stellaluna for sweetness and all-ages enjoyment.

I have never written a review for a book before, regardless of how much I loved it, and yet I feel compelled to let everyone know that I absolutely love this one. I picked it up because of the colorful and creative illustrations and found not only were the pictures great, but the story was the perfect combination of fun, sweetness, and a little bit of life's lessons that are worth learning. My three-year old son loves this book as well and I never find myself tiring of reading it to him.

Intriqued by the illustration, I bought this book for my 4 yr. old son. I am not sure who loves it more. Richly illustrated, this book wraps itself around you and draws you in to a wondrous world. The story is engaging and not 'written down'. A great opportunity for vocabulary expanding. Many teaching moments and a great way to introduce a child to gardening.Most importantly, my son loves it and Frog Belly!

I got this book to have on hand when my three year old niece came for a visit this past weekend. Before I picked it up and actually read it, I was worried that it might be scary for her, because of the cover illustration. After reading the story (while standing in the store), I realized that it was not a scary book at all. I figured that she might like it, so I bought it.I figured wrong. She didn't just like it; she *LOVED* it. I ended up having to read it to her SEVENTEEN times over the space of the weekend visit. She walked around the house, saying, "Frog Belly Rat Bone, One, Two, Three," all weekend. The illustrations in the book are delightful and richly detailed. The artist's use of color, the charm of the story, and the detailing of the cover make this book a pleasure to read to a child (even SEVENTEEN times). And her mom was pleased with the points it very gently makes about persistance and forgiving people when they've made mistakes.This one's a winner, and I suspect, destined to be a classic.