Ken Kimura

999 Frogs and a Little Brother teaches kids that it's okay to be last, that not everyone will grow at the same rate or time, and that help can come from unexpected places. The illustrations are colorful, though somewhat minimalistic, but that works for the plot, since it would be hard to have intricate illustrations of 999 frogs. The text, however, felt a bit stilted -- perhaps it was due to the lack of names (characters are referred to only as "998 tadpoles," "the little tadpole," "Big Brother," "Little Brother," and "mother crayfish") or the somewhat awkward dialogue. Either way, I preferred the illustrations over the text.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.… (meer)