The Frog Princess

A delightfully told variant of The Frog Prince, this witty picture book version has three princes (one very plump who likes his food, one very thin who loves fashionable clothes and the youngest who likes to lie in the grass looking at flowers and insects) who are sent out by their mother to find a wife. The youngest, who has a tender heart, promises to marry the young from he comes across, thus breaking the enchanter's spell and revealing her to be a beautiful and clever princess. Cecil's well paced narrative with its humorous asides is complemented by the astuteness of Clark's layout which gives a visual form to both the comic and dramatic moments in the tale. Clark's deft visual characterisations and imaginative, atmospheric scenes range from the damp greenness of the river bank to the formal brightness of the court. A tour de force.