A Frog Named Waldor

A FROG NAMED WALDOR
Written by Jacqueline Rankine-Van Wassenhoven
Illustrated by Annie Zhang

2.5 stars

A Frog Named Waldor is a sweet children's picture book about a little girl named Jennifer who loves to read, particularly books about water fairies. Now, as I do love fairies and talking frogs are quite irresistible, I was very intrigued by the premise of this story. On a hot July afternoon, Jennifer takes her book to a favourite spot by a pond near the village where she lives, to enjoy some quiet reading time when she is quite surprised to make the acquaintance of Waldor, the talking frog. They talk about water fairies and through a magical twist of fate, Waldor, is just the creature with the power to introduce Jennifer to some real, charming water fairies that he knows!

I believe that author Jacqueline Rankine-Van Wassenhoven had wonderful intentions for this book and there are some lovely illustrations by Annie Zhang (my favourite being the one that depicts Jennifer and Waldor dancing at a musical fairy jam amongst the toadstools), however, the story ends very abruptly, seems unfinished, and just doesn't quite hit the mark, although it is clear that the author has a lot of love for the subject matter.

The book is only 12 pages long and of those 12 pages, there are five adorable, colourful, full-page illustrations. That being said, my niece and nephew who are 7-years-old, enjoyed it and thought that Waldor was pretty cool, but they wanted to know more about him. This story is more about Jennifer and the fairies than it is about Waldor, so the title of the book is a tad misleading. They also liked the idea of the magic bulrushes that allow Jennifer to ride on the back of Mrs. Nightingale, who carried her home.

For some reason, this book is listed on Chapters.Indigo.ca as costing $32.95 which is an extraordinarily high price to pay for a 12 page picture book. It also seems very overpriced at other online booksellers sites. If those prices are correct, I cannot recommend that you buy this book.

Children will love walking through this fairytale with Jennifer as the guide as she takes them on an enchanting journey amongst beautiful fairies and a fabulous frog named Waldor! Enjoy your time emerged with your children in this sweetly written and beautifully illustrated fairytale!

A charming story in the old style of a bygone area. The book is beautifully illustrated and makes the story come alive. The frog Waldor is very charming and provides beautiful settings for the tale if you love faries. In fact they are there in charming abundance.