LoveReading4Kids Says
The Legend of Frog is the first book in a brand new three-part series by award-winning and best-selling author, Guy Bass. A mash-up of fairy tale, fantasy and science fiction with a hearty helping of humour, The Legend of Frog is sure to introduce Guy to a whole new raft of readers as well as delighting his legions of fans.
Once Upon the End of the World, a frog-like prince sets out to claim his throne, armed with nothing more than a pair of Catastrophe Pants and his trusty stick, Basil Rathbone. The hilarious tale of a frog, a princess and an all-out alien invasion…
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for The Legend of Frog a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review this title. Here's a taster....'Exciting, strange and very funny, I could not put this book down and I can't wait to find out what happens next. A brilliant read!' - Sam Harper.
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The Legend of Frog Synopsis
‘I must brave the scorched earth and the blackened skies and the catastrophe – to see what the End of the World is like. But fear not, I shall return! And I’ll bring you back something nice.’
Prince Frog is convinced he's destined to rule the world ...the trouble is, the world has ended. Undeterred, Frog sets out to claim his crown, armed with nothing more than a pair of Catastrophe Pants and his trusty stick, Basil Rathbone. But Frog soon realizes that the world isn't quite as ended as he thought. He discovers a magical kingdom, filled with wild landscapes, strange creatures ...and a princess sitting on his throne. Together with his new friend, Sheriff Explosion the sheep, Frog seeks to prove his princeliness and escape the clutches of the princess who's sure he'd make a better pet than a prince. But just when Frog thinks things can't get any worse, he discovers he is actually the prince of an invading alien army and that he's just given the go-ahead for an all-out alien invasion.
Can he and the princess put aside their differences long enough to save the kingdom - and the world? It's time for Frog to decide whether to be a prince or a hero?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781847153883 |
| Publication date: |
3rd February 2014 |
| Author: |
Guy Bass |
| Illustrator: |
Jonny Duddle |
| Publisher: |
Stripes Publishing an imprint of Little Tiger Press Group |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
220 pages |
| Series: |
The Legend of Frog |
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Guy Bass Press Reviews
Kids love to read and a small number of children were lucky enough to be invited to review The Legend of Frog. You can read their reviews below.
Sam Harper, age 10 - 'Exciting, strange and very funny, I could not put this book down and I can't wait to find out what happens next. A brilliant read!' Click Here to read the full review.
Chloe Pickering, age 10 - 'I found this book very funny and exciting. I didn't want to put it down! The characters were funny and the storyline was gripping.' Click Here to read the full review.
Felicity Wilcox, age 10 - 'Funny, Epic and Comedy/Action' Click Here to read the full review.
Katie Johnson, age 10 - 'I really enjoyed reading The Legend of Frog...once I started reading I found it hard to put the book down!' Click Here to read the full review.
Evie Young, age 8 - 'A funny, little bit scary story about a Frog who wants to be a Prince.' Click Here to read the full review.
Charlie Swan, age 7 - 'This is a very funny and very well-written story, with a frog who thinks he is a prince as the hero.' Click Here to read the full review.
Aisling Quinn - 'I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the comedy genre. I had never read a book in this genre before and it definitely won’t be my last!' Click Here to read the full review.
Lucas, age 8 - 'Frog is going on an epic adventure with a pair of catastrophe pants and his trusty stick Basil Rathbone and has many dangerous obstacles in his path.' Click Here to read the full review.
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Further praise for The Legend of Frog.
Praise for Stitch Head:
“If you liked Marcus Sedgwick’s The Raven Mysteries, you’ll love this!” – Julia Eccleshare, LoveReading4Kids
About Guy Bass
Guy Bass grew up dreaming of being a superhero – he even had a Spider-Man costume. The costume doesn't fit anymore, so Guy now contents himself with writing and drawing the occasional picture. He writes the Gormy Ruckles series for Scholastic UK, as well as the popular Dinkin Dings series for Stripes. In 2010, Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things won a CBBC Blue Peter Book Award in the "Most Fun Story with Pictures" category. Guy lives in London with his wife.
A Q&A with the Author
Where did the idea for the Stitch Head series come from? I wanted to write a gothic monster / mad professor story. The initial idea was about two leftover body parts from the professor’s experiments - an arm and leg - which were alive, and understandably resented their lot! As it turns out, living limbs are considered a bit much for children’s fiction, and I was rightly asked to think again. Then I started to wonder how this mad professor got started. Maybe his first creation wasn’t all that monstrous or scary or impressive; maybe it had been forgotten, like an old toy, and longed to be remembered. I did a sketch of a little creature with stitches all over his face and things started to fall into place.
Apart from Stitch Head, who have been your favourite characters in the series? Arabella is fun to write. She became a major character almost by accident. She’s everything Stitch Head isn’t – rash, brash, and recklessly bold – and she approaches every problem by kicking it in the nose. The Creature is great when I want to give Stitch Head something to worry about. It always turns up at the right moment and does the wrong thing – the perfect storm of good intentions and terrible execution.
When you started the series did you know how many you would be writing? It was initially a one-book contract so I did sort of think that was that. I crammed so much into that first story, but ended up having to trim a lot. What I took out became the basis of the second book, and by the time I’d written that I had book three plotted, and so on.
Stitch Head has recently been voted by kids as one of the best Children’s books, how did this make you feel? Gobsmacked, incredulous and humbled, in that order. Everybody involved in Stitch Head put in heaps of work into it, so I’m so chuffed people like it. That vote meant a lot, especially as there was no shortlist. Bonkers. Plus, it was good to know all those bribes paid off.
Sadly this is the last book in the Stitch Head series, but do you have any other books coming? I don’t know how to spell a drum-roll, but I’m making the sound... my new series is called SPYnosaur. I’m really excited about it. It’s your classic secret-agent-gets-his-brainwaves-put-into-the-body-of-a-dinosaur-and-teams-up-with-his-daughter-to-battle-international-criminal-masterminds. With added monkeys.
Guy Bass on his recent novel for reluctant and struggling reads Noah Scape:
1. Can you describe Noah Scape Can't Stop Repeating Himself in 5 words?
When Noah doubles there's trouble.
When Noah doubles there's trouble.
When Noah doubles there's trouble.
When Noah doubles there's trouble.
When Noah doubles there's trouble.
2. What was the inspiration for writing the book?
The name was the starting point. I wanted to write a "be careful what you wish for" story, with Noah deliberately deciding to start doubling but it soon spirals out of control to become a situation he can't escape. There is something appealing about the idea of there being one more of you, or four of you, or eight, or a hundred ... but when everyone's the same, it's a sadder world. At the beginning of the story, Noah's so set in his ways that he rejects other people's ideas and opinions but the more he duplicates, the more he realises that difference makes life interesting. Difference and dinosaurs.
3. You could say that Noah is a bit of a difficult student... What were you like at school? Were you as demanding as Noah?
I wish I had been - demanding, not difficult. I was really quiet at school. So quiet that I'm pretty sure I could have turned invisible and I pretty sure no one would have noticed. Which is just one of the two hundred super powers I wished I'd had as a child. I spent every school assembly daydreaming about floating into the air and out of the window. My memory's hazy but i'm almost convinced it never actually happened.
4. We love Steve's artwork and he's said he just might have broken the record for drawing the same character again and again and again! What version of Noah is your favourite?
It's an impressive record! My favourite's one of the (many) Noahs on page 51. He's far off in the background, holding a balloon and looking strangely sinister. Thanks to horror films it's now impossible to hold a balloon and not look evil.
5. Noah loves nothing more than talking about dinosaurs and eating spaghetti with tomato sauce. What two things do you wish everyone loved as much as you do?
Comic books and cheese fondue.
6. Finally, we'd love to see the spot where all your characters come to life. Can you show us a picture of where you write?
I should point out that my main problem with writing books is the isolation. As you can see, I found a solution - you're never alone with a thousand lifeless painted eyes staring down at you. Oddly, the toys on my shelves seem to have doubled recently. Maybe that's where the real inspiration for Noah Scape came from.
Photo credit Elizabeth Gibson
More About Guy Bass
