''The Frog Prince, Continued'' () by

Jon Scieszka Jon Scieszka ( :) (born September 8, 1954) is an American children's writer, best known for picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based li ...

, illustrated by Steve Johnson, is a picture book

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

"sequel" to the tale of

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...

, in which a princess kisses a frog which then turns into a prince. It was first published in 1991.

Plot

Instead of living happily ever after, issues ensue on both sides. The princess wants the prince to go do something heroic instead of lying around the castle catching flies all day (he's now human but retains some froggy habits). The prince wishes she wouldn't nag him and thinks he was happier back at his lily pad. Eventually he gets fed up and runs away. The prince encounters three witches on his wanderings and asks each to turn him back into a frog, so he can live happily ever after. The first witch thinks he is looking for

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

. The second witch offers him a

poisoned apple ''Poisoned Apple'' is the second album by Venomous Concept. It was released on April 25, 2008 in Europe and May 13, 2008 in North America. Critical reception The album generally received positive reviews from music critics. About.com critic Ch ...

. The third lives in a gingerbread house, appears to know

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

, and invites the prince in for dinner. The prince wisely flees from these witches, but finds himself lost in the forest with night falling. At last, he happens upon a

fairy godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale with ...

, who is on her way to see a girl about a ball, but who obligingly turns him into a carriage (her repertoire is limited). As he sits in the forest and realizes just how good he had it with the princess, he thinks he'll never get home again. Fortunately, the fairy godmother's magic wears off at (not surprisingly) midnight, the prince turns back into a prince, and he runs home to his princess. When she tells him how much she loves him and was worried about him, the prince kisses the princess, and their troubles are resolved with a different happy ending: they are both transformed into frogs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frog Prince, Continued, The 1991 children's books American children's books American picture books Fairy tale parodies The Frog Prince Sequel books English-language books Picture books based on fairy tales Works based on Grimms' Fairy Tales Books about frogs Fiction about shapeshifting Viking Press books