THE FROG PRINCE

A very pretty rendering of this difficult story. Wargin has stayed very close to the Grimms’ version: The princess does not kiss the frog at all, but throws him across the room in a fit of pique. He turns into a prince who looks a little like Joseph Fiennes. The princess, who looks a little like Scarlett Johansson on a pouty day, is bedecked in gorgeous damasks and brocades in English Renaissance–style. When she sits tossing her golden ball, she is surrounded by exquisitely drawn flowers and insects; palace food and drink, jewels and furnishings are likewise beautifully delineated. The frog himself, who rescues her ball from the well and demands to sit by her side, eat from her plate and sleep in her bed, is very froggy indeed. The Grimms’ ending, in which the prince’s faithful servant Henry’s iron bands about his chest are loosed for joy at his master’s return and marriage, is also included. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-9)