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froggylibrarian1's review against another edition
3.0
First all let me say that I am not a big fan of animal fantasy. Really...I have never been able to get through Wind in the Willows so I was already predisposed not to like this before I even started. Of course, I am a frog fan but alas, it wasn't enough.
Darel is just an ordinary wood frog but he has a big heart and determination to defend the Amphibilands. When the scorpions and spiders join forces the frogs are in trouble, especially when the spider queen can destroy the Veil which has hidden and protected the Amphibilands.
Once I got through the first third of the book I enjoyed it okay. There was enough action for me to want to finish but it really wasn't a big hit for me. The spider queen is still alive and appears to have saved a scorpion so it looks like the stage is set for a sequel. Because I got the book as a member of the Maine Student Book Award committee I will be putting it in my library. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my students really like it. I am hoping that some of my older students will start reading my blogs and making comments. I would actually love it if some of them disagree with me and like it :)
Darel is just an ordinary wood frog but he has a big heart and determination to defend the Amphibilands. When the scorpions and spiders join forces the frogs are in trouble, especially when the spider queen can destroy the Veil which has hidden and protected the Amphibilands.
Once I got through the first third of the book I enjoyed it okay. There was enough action for me to want to finish but it really wasn't a big hit for me. The spider queen is still alive and appears to have saved a scorpion so it looks like the stage is set for a sequel. Because I got the book as a member of the Maine Student Book Award committee I will be putting it in my library. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my students really like it. I am hoping that some of my older students will start reading my blogs and making comments. I would actually love it if some of them disagree with me and like it :)
dandelionsteph's review against another edition
4.0
It was certainly below my reading level, but enjoyable.
My biggest criticism is the different levels of realism applied to the animal characters. The frogs are reasonably realistic, for the most part. (Though less so for the tadpoles) Yet, the scorpions look more physiologically distorted than the frogs, almost as if they're scorpion-esque monsters rather than scorpions. The spiders are even worse: Queen Jarrah is the only one depicted, and she looks more like some bizarre elfin spider-centaur than a reasonably realistic spider. I understand giving them humanlike proportions makes it easier to imagine them carrying weapons and building humanlike objects, but Jarrah's design took anthropomorphization to an unreasonable degree. It's as if the artist was barely familiar with what spiders looked like.
My biggest criticism is the different levels of realism applied to the animal characters. The frogs are reasonably realistic, for the most part. (Though less so for the tadpoles) Yet, the scorpions look more physiologically distorted than the frogs, almost as if they're scorpion-esque monsters rather than scorpions. The spiders are even worse: Queen Jarrah is the only one depicted, and she looks more like some bizarre elfin spider-centaur than a reasonably realistic spider. I understand giving them humanlike proportions makes it easier to imagine them carrying weapons and building humanlike objects, but Jarrah's design took anthropomorphization to an unreasonable degree. It's as if the artist was barely familiar with what spiders looked like.
tami_provencher's review against another edition
4.0
I had seen An Army of Frogs at the library. I had checked it out twice. It looked interesting. It looked fun. But I couldn't get into it. I groaned when I saw it come up on the Lovelace nominee list for 2016-17. I was not looking forward to forcing myself to read it all the way through when I hadn't previously been able to get past the second chapter.
Now that I have done so I can absolutely say that I am glad I did. An Army of Frogs tells the story of Darel, a wood frog in Australia whose father was one of a great warrior frog species called the Kulipari. Kulipari frogs are brightly colored and actually possess poison with which to defeat their enemies. Because Darel is only HALF Kulipari he has neither of those distinctive traits. But ever since he can remember, Darel has wanted to BE a Kulipari. To make up for his lack of inherent Kulipari qualities Darel trains...and trains...and trains. He practices sparring and stealth, dragging his best friend Gee into the adventures with him--usually in the role of his mock opponent.
An Army of Frogs was a surprise to me in that, based on the first couple chapters, I thought it would be one battle description after another--but it is not. Readers watch Darel grow a great deal from the first to the final pages of his story. He learns the value of friendship, how easy it is to take a good friend for granted and that being a good friend often involves hard choices. He and his friends learn about the reality of courage and integrity, replacing their imagined fantasies about the glories of battle and war.
In addition to these valuable insights--absolutely relevant in the lives of young readers--An Army of Frogs ends up being a really good story about magic, good and evil and young heroes in the making. The villains--the scorpion commander Lord Maramoo and the evil Spider Queen Jarrah are magnificently evil and easy to root against. A classic underdog story, the first in a trilogy, Trevor Pryce has created a fantastic new fantasy realm for upper elementary readers. The illustrations by Sanford Greene--a fantastic Marvel Comics artist--are stunning and in the tradition of the best comics and graphic novels.
Young readers who enjoy works like Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Marvel & DC Universe, etc. will LOVE An Army of Frogs! I certainly did!
Now that I have done so I can absolutely say that I am glad I did. An Army of Frogs tells the story of Darel, a wood frog in Australia whose father was one of a great warrior frog species called the Kulipari. Kulipari frogs are brightly colored and actually possess poison with which to defeat their enemies. Because Darel is only HALF Kulipari he has neither of those distinctive traits. But ever since he can remember, Darel has wanted to BE a Kulipari. To make up for his lack of inherent Kulipari qualities Darel trains...and trains...and trains. He practices sparring and stealth, dragging his best friend Gee into the adventures with him--usually in the role of his mock opponent.
An Army of Frogs was a surprise to me in that, based on the first couple chapters, I thought it would be one battle description after another--but it is not. Readers watch Darel grow a great deal from the first to the final pages of his story. He learns the value of friendship, how easy it is to take a good friend for granted and that being a good friend often involves hard choices. He and his friends learn about the reality of courage and integrity, replacing their imagined fantasies about the glories of battle and war.
In addition to these valuable insights--absolutely relevant in the lives of young readers--An Army of Frogs ends up being a really good story about magic, good and evil and young heroes in the making. The villains--the scorpion commander Lord Maramoo and the evil Spider Queen Jarrah are magnificently evil and easy to root against. A classic underdog story, the first in a trilogy, Trevor Pryce has created a fantastic new fantasy realm for upper elementary readers. The illustrations by Sanford Greene--a fantastic Marvel Comics artist--are stunning and in the tradition of the best comics and graphic novels.
Young readers who enjoy works like Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Marvel & DC Universe, etc. will LOVE An Army of Frogs! I certainly did!
katfireblade's review against another edition
4.0
And listed under "Things You Wouldn't See Coming" is this novel about a war between frogs and a combined scorpion/spider army for control of the Amphibilands, and the precious water it contains.
Set in Australia (in the hot and dry parts of that country), it follows a young frog in his desire to become a warrior like his father, but with a twist--his father was a poison frog, and could give himself almost supernatural fighting abilities by tapping into that poison. His son is just an ordinary frog. Worse, there are no battles to fight as the Amphibilands are hidden by a protective veil from the outside world, keeping the frogs safe from harm.
But, as in all good books of this type, of course all that changes.
The Good:
It's a lot of fun. I mean, A LOT.
The talking animal characters are made fascinating because of how true they are to their unique animal forms--these aren't your typical "humans in animal form" you so often see in kids' books. Each of the species depicted have distinct cultures, desires, and goals, and that diversity both fuels the plot and makes the world simply fascinating. The characters are fully realized, and the Australian setting isn't just for show; the book is woven through with the unique landscape and old aboriginal legends and beliefs.
The Bad:
It's a young man's coming of age story in many ways, an often retread plotline. It's also tropey in the extreme, to the point that on more than one occasion I found myself bored with the plot, even while I thoroughly enjoyed the setting. Children won't necessarily recognize the plot beats, having been exposed to less media (and with many modern tales moving away from or trying to subvert them), but adults definitely will. The story is, sadly, formulaic in the extreme, to the point that it's criminally simple to predict what comes next. That cost it a half star because I think anyone able to world build this well could have brought something new to a tired old formula.
Again, though, I still rated it a four star read--just know what you're getting into. This was definitely written for children, not children and adults.
The Uh, Erm....:
I have the perspective of "reading while female," and....well, I spent much of the book wondering where all the women were. They weren't missing entirely, but their presence never felt all that strongly, and if this book passed the Bechdel test it was just barely. Often women only spoke to men, and when they did speak to each other it was frequently about a male. Plus, when women do show up they're in largely traditional roles--the mother, the magic user, the chieftain (portrayed more motherly/grandmotherly than leader-like in this first book, plus barely present), and the healer. And the "evil queen" stereotype is every evil Disney queen/female magic user that ever existed.
There are two female warriors, but they get their strength from magic. In fact, EVERY woman warrior in this book gets her strength from magic, either battling with the aid of such or as a straight magic user. There are NO female warriors who fight with pure strength and battle skill, not among the frogs or the scorpions, not among the mercenaries, and not even in the spider troops. Unless a woman has magic backing her she apparently sits out the battles.
Whoever conceived of this story has some very Definite Ideas (tm) about women and "their place," whether they consciously realize it or not--and no, I don't think the male/female diametric was a conscious choice. I think someone simply regurgitated what one often sees in other, similar stories and didn't think too deeply about it.
The reason this bothers me so much is because it seems strange, especially in a book where each species was so well researched. For example, female scorpions are often larger and more aggressive than males (it can vary by species but these traits are not uncommon), and many spider species also have the same traits in their females--not surprising since both species are arachnids. Even many frog species have females that are significantly larger than the males. Considering how fully researched each of these critters were you'd think that the females would have been portrayed a little truer to their respective species, and their usefulness in non-traditional female roles considered accordingly (instead of lots of big male frog warriors, no big frog women, no women among the scorpions at all, etc.).
I didn't take off a full star for this--the star loss was a combination of formulaic and poor female presence (which can subtitle under formulaic). I was disappointed but not hugely surprised at the female issue, considering the type of story, and that (and yes, this may be unfair, but...) the story was the brain child of a male sports professional.
Would I recommend this read to others?:
Again, I rated this book at four stars and I stand by that rating.
This is a genuinely fun read and, despite some of the drawbacks that I, as an adult, couldn't ignore, these are drawbacks children will never see. Instead they'll be enthralled by the battles, the choices the heroes have to make, and the world the story is set in. And overall it's a good story, drawbacks included. Every author's fledgling offering should be so well done.
However, I would add one caveat: this book is STRICTLY for, and narrowly aimed at, young boys. I would recommend this to young men almost without reservation--the female issue is still not great, but there is enough female presence to put it above other stories aimed at young boys, plus enough media aimed at that demographic is currently trying to change the weird lack of females that I think they can balance this one read against other offerings.
For mothers of young girls I would suggest looking for reading material elsewhere or to read it with them so you can help them navigate the gender politics therein. There are role models for young men aplenty, but not so much for young women. And since it's still very difficult to find strong female role models who break out of traditional roles (and I mean more than just adding a few sword wielders to a battle epic) or who have presence equal to men without gender becoming a Big Honking Deal (tm) that honestly...maaaaaybe just give this one a pass.
Or make sure they pick up book two and don't stop at this one. The women get a little more screen time there and, while their roles are still often traditional, they are stronger and more unique and fully rounded characters overall.
I can't speak for book three yet.
Set in Australia (in the hot and dry parts of that country), it follows a young frog in his desire to become a warrior like his father, but with a twist--his father was a poison frog, and could give himself almost supernatural fighting abilities by tapping into that poison. His son is just an ordinary frog. Worse, there are no battles to fight as the Amphibilands are hidden by a protective veil from the outside world, keeping the frogs safe from harm.
But, as in all good books of this type, of course all that changes.
The Good:
It's a lot of fun. I mean, A LOT.
The talking animal characters are made fascinating because of how true they are to their unique animal forms--these aren't your typical "humans in animal form" you so often see in kids' books. Each of the species depicted have distinct cultures, desires, and goals, and that diversity both fuels the plot and makes the world simply fascinating. The characters are fully realized, and the Australian setting isn't just for show; the book is woven through with the unique landscape and old aboriginal legends and beliefs.
The Bad:
It's a young man's coming of age story in many ways, an often retread plotline. It's also tropey in the extreme, to the point that on more than one occasion I found myself bored with the plot, even while I thoroughly enjoyed the setting. Children won't necessarily recognize the plot beats, having been exposed to less media (and with many modern tales moving away from or trying to subvert them), but adults definitely will. The story is, sadly, formulaic in the extreme, to the point that it's criminally simple to predict what comes next. That cost it a half star because I think anyone able to world build this well could have brought something new to a tired old formula.
Again, though, I still rated it a four star read--just know what you're getting into. This was definitely written for children, not children and adults.
The Uh, Erm....:
I have the perspective of "reading while female," and....well, I spent much of the book wondering where all the women were. They weren't missing entirely, but their presence never felt all that strongly, and if this book passed the Bechdel test it was just barely. Often women only spoke to men, and when they did speak to each other it was frequently about a male. Plus, when women do show up they're in largely traditional roles--the mother, the magic user, the chieftain (portrayed more motherly/grandmotherly than leader-like in this first book, plus barely present), and the healer. And the "evil queen" stereotype is every evil Disney queen/female magic user that ever existed.
There are two female warriors, but they get their strength from magic. In fact, EVERY woman warrior in this book gets her strength from magic, either battling with the aid of such or as a straight magic user. There are NO female warriors who fight with pure strength and battle skill, not among the frogs or the scorpions, not among the mercenaries, and not even in the spider troops. Unless a woman has magic backing her she apparently sits out the battles.
Whoever conceived of this story has some very Definite Ideas (tm) about women and "their place," whether they consciously realize it or not--and no, I don't think the male/female diametric was a conscious choice. I think someone simply regurgitated what one often sees in other, similar stories and didn't think too deeply about it.
The reason this bothers me so much is because it seems strange, especially in a book where each species was so well researched. For example, female scorpions are often larger and more aggressive than males (it can vary by species but these traits are not uncommon), and many spider species also have the same traits in their females--not surprising since both species are arachnids. Even many frog species have females that are significantly larger than the males. Considering how fully researched each of these critters were you'd think that the females would have been portrayed a little truer to their respective species, and their usefulness in non-traditional female roles considered accordingly (instead of lots of big male frog warriors, no big frog women, no women among the scorpions at all, etc.).
I didn't take off a full star for this--the star loss was a combination of formulaic and poor female presence (which can subtitle under formulaic). I was disappointed but not hugely surprised at the female issue, considering the type of story, and that (and yes, this may be unfair, but...) the story was the brain child of a male sports professional.
Would I recommend this read to others?:
Again, I rated this book at four stars and I stand by that rating.
This is a genuinely fun read and, despite some of the drawbacks that I, as an adult, couldn't ignore, these are drawbacks children will never see. Instead they'll be enthralled by the battles, the choices the heroes have to make, and the world the story is set in. And overall it's a good story, drawbacks included. Every author's fledgling offering should be so well done.
However, I would add one caveat: this book is STRICTLY for, and narrowly aimed at, young boys. I would recommend this to young men almost without reservation--the female issue is still not great, but there is enough female presence to put it above other stories aimed at young boys, plus enough media aimed at that demographic is currently trying to change the weird lack of females that I think they can balance this one read against other offerings.
For mothers of young girls I would suggest looking for reading material elsewhere or to read it with them so you can help them navigate the gender politics therein. There are role models for young men aplenty, but not so much for young women. And since it's still very difficult to find strong female role models who break out of traditional roles (and I mean more than just adding a few sword wielders to a battle epic) or who have presence equal to men without gender becoming a Big Honking Deal (tm) that honestly...maaaaaybe just give this one a pass.
Or make sure they pick up book two and don't stop at this one. The women get a little more screen time there and, while their roles are still often traditional, they are stronger and more unique and fully rounded characters overall.
I can't speak for book three yet.
sewerratz's review against another edition
4.0
The way that this was everything to me back in elementary.
sonshinelibrarian's review
5.0
This was super cute! I love the frog world and the main characters. The illustrations are great as well. Looking forward to reading the next book.
stayathomereader's review
4.0
Had fun reading this to the kids. A great book for now until they are ready for Redwall
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