Anne Toole

Reviewed by Carla Trueheart for Readers' Favorite


The Frog That Lost His Croak is a children’s story by author Anne Toole that tells the tale of a young frog with a very proud and very loud croak who one day loses his croak after boasting and bragging to his friends. The little frog consults his father, who tells him to go find his mother, and she tells him the truth: he needs to croak less! She also tells him that it might take some time to understand what is happening to him, but that his croak will come back to him someday. The little frog ponders this advice and heads out alone to his favorite log. There, he is made fun of by his friends for not being able to croak anymore, and he begins to understand that bragging about his croak lost him his friends. In the end, the little frog figures out what is important, and he learns a valuable lesson.

Author Anne Toole has written a superb book for children that will be a family favorite and a tradition for years to come. The illustrations in The Frog That Lost His Croak are beautiful and go along very well with the story as it progresses. The little frog is a delightful character who starts off loving the sound of his own croak so much that he does not take the time to hear anything else of importance around him. I read this story with a smile, and I recommend the book for young children as a nighttime story or any other time of the day!… (más)

What a great Graphic Novel series for girls. I hope there are more because we did not really get to know the girls well in this action packed story.

Zoe starts at a new school and is immediately hassled by some soccer playing girls. She is rescued by a group of exchange students. As she heads home, she is grumbling that it is her birthday. At home her parents give her a gift from her Birth Mother. This is when she reads a strange letter and gets a Diamond Gem. She is not sure what to make of it. When she returns home the next day there is something wrong with her parents and a black dragon demon is after her. Once again being rescued by this group of girls she finds out they are part of the Crystal Cadets and that is one of them as well. The dragon represents The Darkness that feeds upon bad behaviors like greed, lying, cheating. Only friendship and magic can defeat it. They are still searching for more cadets.

Each girl has specific powers and rides upon a magic creature such as a unicorn, a butterfly, pegasus etc. As another reviewer mentioned, the cast is extremely racially diverse, and it’s all taken in stride, with no stereotypes in sight. And the Darkness causes trouble all over the world, so the settings are diverse as well.

I think this series would be devoured by young girls as well as empowering them to become better people to try to stamp out the darkness in our own world.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)