Froggy Eats Out

Froggy has to go to a fancy restaurant with his parents to celebrate their anniversary. He spends time getting all dressed up for this fancy occasion, but when he arrives at the restaurant, he fails to follow his mom's instructions to be neat, be quiet, and keep his feet off the table.

I loved the first half of this book. The illustrations are fabulous, and there's a nice mix of storyline and sound effects as Froggy gets dressed and washed to go out to a fancy restaurant. But at the restaurant, Froggy can't behave. At first, it's an accident. He knocks over a water glass and his mom reminds him to be neat, be quiet, and keep his feet off the table. But then, Froggy gets up and hops all around the restaurant singing loudly. When he's told to behave, he dives under his parents' table and pulls the tablecloth so that all of their food and dishes crash to the floor.

His parents decide they should just to to a fast food restaurant and eat there, and that's what they do. As a mom of active boys, I don't appreciate a story in which the main character never learns to behave in public and is rewarded for his lack of self-control by a trip to the burger joint (from the beginning, all Froggy wanted for dinner in the first place was a burger). I'm sorry to give this book a poor rating because I do enjoy the Froggy series, but I don't want my kids taking away the moral that if they misbehave, they'll get what they want.