JOSHUA THE GIANT FROG

Red McCarthy finds a giant polliwog in the waters of the Erie Canal and tries to bring it home. However, the polliwog escapes into the pond and takes up residence. When it grows, it becomes a giant frog that drives the townspeople crazy with its earthquake-like jumps, its garden-drowning splashes and its sleep-disturbing garrumphs. But as with most tales of this sort, before the town can get rid of it, Joshua becomes a hero. He moves barges down the canal, from Rome to Syracuse, when the lack of water strands their movement. After that, Joshua helps by dragging lumber, pulling stumps and moving rocks and a boulder the size of a barn. He celebrates with the town’s band and pulls the dangerous curves on Snake Hill Road into a straight line. Readers may have difficulty suspending their belief system long enough to enjoy this awkwardly shaped tale, but Smith’s realistically executed watercolors depicting the giant frog and his helpful nature may just carry it off. (Picture book/folktale. 4-8)