There Was An Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog

February 22, 2010
Migrating to a rainforest setting, the creators of There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea
present another wacky take on this tune. After swallowing his first victim (“I don't know why he swallowed the frog. What a hog!”), the googly-eyed monkey downs three animated cocoa beans “to sweeten the frog,” followed by a sequence of outlandish items and animals. Gray's digitally rendered illustrations alternately reveal the feasting monkey and the (remarkably) cheerful captives inside his stomach. Text and art deliver equal measures of over-the-top zaniness. Ages 4–9.