Frogs and Toads from Famous Stories, Myths and Legends
Frogs and toads turn up all over the world's stories. Sometimes they're wise helpers, sometimes troublemakers and sometimes princes under a spell. Each picture below comes with a short note about its story.
Jump to: Fairy Tales | Fables and Folklore | Books and Poems | Cartoons
Frogs and Toads in Fairy Tales
The Frog Prince
In the Brothers Grimm version a princess drops her golden ball down a well. A frog fetches it after she promises to be his friend, then she tries to get out of the deal. There's no kiss in the original story. The spell breaks when she throws the frog against the wall! The kiss came along in later retellings.
The Well of the World's End
A Scottish fairy tale. A girl is sent to fill a sieve with water from the well at the world's end. A frog shows her how to patch the sieve with moss and clay so it holds water. In return she has to promise to marry him. When she keeps her promise the frog turns into a prince.
The Three Feathers
In this Brothers Grimm tale a king blows three feathers into the air and sends each son off after one. The youngest son's feather lands by a trapdoor. Underneath lives a big fat toad who gives him the finest carpet, the most beautiful ring and finally a bride. Thanks to the toad the youngest son wins the kingdom.
Thumbelina
In Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale a mother toad carries tiny Thumbelina off while she sleeps. She wants her as a wife for her son and leaves her stranded on a lily pad in the stream. Some kind fish chew through the stem and set her free.
Fables, Myths and Folklore
The Frogs Who Wanted a King
In this fable from Aesop the frogs ask Zeus to send them a king. He drops a log into their pond. At first the splash scares them, but once they see the log never moves they hop all over it and ask for a better king. Zeus sends a stork, which starts eating them.
The moral: be careful what you wish for.
The Frog in the Well
A fable from the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. A frog lives at the bottom of a well and thinks the circle of sky above it is the whole world. A sea turtle tells it about the ocean and the frog can hardly believe it. In Chinese "a frog in a well" still describes someone with a narrow view of the world.
Tiddalik the Frog
A story from Aboriginal Australia. Tiddalik wakes up so thirsty that he drinks every drop of water in the land. The other animals try all sorts of tricks to make him laugh. When he finally does, the water gushes out and fills the rivers again. It's often told as a lesson about greed and sharing.
The Giant Frog and the Spider
A tale from West Africa, where spiders are some of the most famous characters in folklore. The best known is Anansi, a clever trickster who outwits creatures much bigger than himself. In this story the spider meets a frog of enormous size.
The Battle of Frogs and Mice
A funny ancient Greek poem that pokes fun at the Iliad. A frog king offers a mouse a ride across a pond on his back. When a water snake appears the frog dives and the mouse drowns. The mice declare war and even the gods get involved. It was once credited to Homer, but it was probably written later.
Toads in European Folklore
Toads had a mixed reputation in old European folklore. They were often linked with witches and bad luck, but people also believed some toads carried a magic jewel called a toadstone inside their heads. The natterjack is a European toad with a yellow stripe down its back. It runs instead of hopping and its call carries a long way on a still night.
Wizard Frog
Frogs and toads have been tied to magic for a long time, from witches' potions to princes under a spell. This frog isn't from any one story. He's just decided to become a wizard himself.
Frogs and Toads in Books and Poems
The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Beatrix Potter's 1906 story about a frog who goes fishing from a lily pad on a rainy day. A big trout swallows him whole, then spits him out because it doesn't like the taste of his mackintosh. Jeremy goes home without a fish and has grasshopper for dinner instead.
The Wind in the Willows
Mr. Toad of Toad Hall is the star of the trouble in Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel. He's rich, boastful and mad about motor cars. His friends Rat, Mole and Badger spend much of the book trying to save him from himself.
Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel's early reader books about two best friends. Frog is calm and cheerful. Toad worries and grumbles. They look after each other anyway, which is what makes the stories so warm.
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Mark Twain's first famous story, from 1865. A gambler named Jim Smiley trains his frog, Dan'l Webster, to out-jump any frog around. Then a stranger sneaks a load of lead shot into Dan'l's mouth and the poor frog can't budge.
Jabberwocky
Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem from Through the Looking-Glass warns the hero to "shun the frumious Bandersnatch" but never says what one looks like. That leaves it up to the artist, and this one turned out a little froggy.
Cartoon Frogs
Kermit the Frog
Jim Henson made the first Kermit in 1955 from an old coat of his mother's and a ping-pong ball cut in half for eyes. Kermit went on to Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, singing "Bein' Green" and "Rainbow Connection" along the way.
Michigan J. Frog
The star of the 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon One Froggy Evening. A builder finds a frog in an old box who sings and dances in a top hat, but only when nobody else is watching. His big number is the 1899 song "Hello! Ma Baby".