Author: Dr. George Everett

ISBN: 978-1449704438

Publisher: WestBow Press

Click Here To Purchase G.W. Frog and the Circus Lion

Meet G.W. Frog!  When the frog community of Frog Holler is awakened by loud noises, G.W. and his friend Gerald set out to see what is going on.  Below in the valley they discover a wonderful circus being set up!  G.W. and Gerald Grasshopper go and check it out!  While they are there they meet Larry the Lion who is very sad.  Over the years he has lost his teeth due to age.  His scary, ferocious lion roar is gone.  Without his roar Larry has lost his pride and courage.  G.W. Frog and Gerald Grasshopper are determined to help Larry Lion and save the day!

What my 4 year old daughter had to say about this book:

So great!  I love it and want to keep it.  The lion go his teeth and could roar!  I liked the pictures.  They are full of all the colors!  The lion’s friends were nice to help him be happy.

Due to the fact that this copy was given to me for review I need to bring forth a few issues I had with the books’ setup.  There are no numbers on these pages so I will due my best to explain without them.  First, the picture of the elephant helping to put up the tent needs to span across two pages with the words over the tent.  It is awkward that it is vertical when it should be horizontal.  We had to turn the book so they could see the picture instead of tilting their heads to try and view it.  Second, the trees are not completely drawn and are instead penciled in which makes the book feel incomplete.  I would suggest leaving them without the penciling or filling the picture in so that it is complete.  The pencil lines draw attention to the trees in an odd way.  Third, on the page where it says “G.W. held tightly to the jar, thanked the bees and hopped back on the trail to Misty meadow”, this page needs to swap and be before the lion page which is on its left.  The lion page states “Watcha got in the jar and sack”.  The pages need to be swapped because they seem out of order with the story line.  The lion is asking his question before G.W. brings the jar and sack to the lion.  The last line on the page with G.W. and Gerald is not needed if the line will also stay on the page with Larry the Lion.

This book was a wonderful lesson in being helpful, sharing, and courteous to others.  It was a very creative and fun story.  The book is filled with vivid images and colorful pictures that I fell in love with.  They capture the child attention and are “child like” in nature.  The book has plenty of story line and is on the longer side.  I would suggest it to other parents with young children learning who can sit through longer books or are reading easy books to themselves.  I would suggest it for children four to eight years of age.  My daughters and I have really enjoyed this book. The story is one you can imagine being told by grandpa as you sit on his knee.