The Frog Princess

Katie Grosskopf and Adrian Klein

The Frog Princess by Katie Grosskopf and Adrian Klein published by Jackson Fish Market Illustrated by Katie Grosskopf Written by Adrian Klein Text & Illustration Copyright ©2009 Jackson Fish Market Jackson Fish Market, LLC. 1425 Broadway #448, Seattle, WA 98122 www.jacksonfish.com Typeface used throughout is Tarzana, designed by Zuzana Licko. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. First digital edition published 2009 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN-13: 978-1-936093-08-3 To my family, for everything. - K.L.G. For Jenny, the best best friend ever. - Adrian This is Emily. She’s new in town. Emily hasn’t made She always wins… any friends yet, but it’s a little lonely. so she plays by herself. Emily likes exploring. One day after breakfast, she grabbed her coat and headed outside to see the neighborhood. By lunchtime Emily had already explored all the way across the backyard and down to the river. The grass near the river was very wet. As Emily got close to the edge of the river, she slipped and fell! Just then, a frog splashed up onto the riverbank. It was green and slimy, with big, bumpy, yellow eyes. The frog stared at Emily for a long time. Then it looked back down into the river. Finally it spoke. “Did you know,” asked the frog, “that best friends eat together, play together, and do favors for each other? ” Emily nodded. She knew what a best friend was. “If you promise to be my best friend,” continued the frog, “I will do you a favor. I will get your compass back.” The frog was not Emily’s idea of a friend. She would rather play alone than play with an ugly, wet little frog. But she really needed a favor. “Yes, yes, I promise!” said Emily quickly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the frog turned and dove into the river. Faster than you can say “plip plop puddle hop,” it dragged Emily’s compass up onto the grass. Emily scooped up the compass and began to run across the lawn. “Wait!” called the frog, hopping along behind her. She ran as fast as she could. She didn’t stop running until she was back inside the house. Emily had forgotten all about the frog by the time she sat down to dinner. Suddenly there was a soft, wet knock at the door. “Emily!” croaked the frog. “Let me in! I’m very hungry, and you promised we’d eat together!” Emily pretended that she couldn’t hear anything. Emily’s father was not fooled. “Did you make a promise to this frog?” he asked.“Yes,” said Emily. “But it’s just a frog!”“That,” said Emily’s father, “is still a promise.” And he opened the door. The frog hopped up onto the table. It reached out a long, pink tongue and snatched a steaming slice of delicious pizza right off Emily’s plate! “That was a good dinner!” exclaimed the frog. “Now let’s play before we go to bed!” Emily brought out her toys and games. But the frog was bored. “I know!” said the frog. “Let’s play dress up!” “No, no, no!” Emily cried. She didn’t want the slimy green frog to ruin her dress-up clothes. “But,” said the frog, “you promised.” So Emily dressed the frog in her nicest princess doll clothes. She even put a little princess crown on top of the frog’s bumpy head. The frog was very happy. It hopped around and around until it was all tired out. Emily was all tired out too. “Before we go to bed,” asked the frog, will you give me a quick kiss goodnight?” “Ugh! No!” said Emily. But, a promise is a promise, and a favor is a favor. Just imagine how gross it would be to kiss a frog! She squeezed her nose hard between two fingers. She pressed her lips together and made her mouth as small and thin as she could. And then she leaned forward to kiss the frog goodnight. As soon as Emily’s lips touched the frog, an amazing thing happened. One second there was a little green frog sitting in Emily’s bed, wearing a princess dress. Then, suddenly, the frog was gone. In its place was a real, live princess! And she had a big smile on her face. The princess threw her arms around Emily and gave her a big hug. She told Emily how she had been turned into a frog by an evil witch. Only a real, true best friend could break the spell,” said the princess. “ “And that’s what you are! A true best friend.” Emily nodded happily. A best friend is a great thing to have. Especially when it comes to exploring!