Froggy Eats Out

On the occasion of Froggy's parents' anniversary, it's time for the family to head for Chez Yum, a hoity-toity restaurant with tablecloths and flower-filled vases. This means trouble. Froggy only has a few rules to remember--"Be neat, be quiet, and don't put your feet on the table"--but it's absolutely not that simple. Froggy fidgets, shakes salt on his hand and licks it, bangs his spoon on the table, flips his spoon (bonk! oops!), pulls petals off flowers, sucks on sugar cubes (and ice cubes), and then, of course, simply must flop around singing. Just as he's getting down to actually eating, he spies his pretty classmate Frogilina, a guest star from Froggy's First Kiss. This doesn't help matters. As an embarrassed Froggy ducks under the tablecloth, spaghetti and fly sauce goes, well, flying. At that, the whole family gives up and heads to a local diner for burgers and flies. Youngsters will giggle out loud at the oh-so-familiar stunts (and trademark Froggy sound effects) of an irrepressible frog faced with the dreaded Fancy Dinner. This fine addition to the much-loved Froggy series could serve as a lighthearted way to approach table etiquette, but mostly it's just good messy fun. (Ages 3 to 6) --Karin Snelson