Bently gives us another fairy tale made funny.

I had to look up Andersen’s original short story, The Leaping Match. It’s a classic moral and characters, and really nicely adapted with humour for a modern young audience here.

Bently has a fantastic touch with poetry, never a dull line or dud rhyme, and he’s adapted here to make the Frog the hero where in the original he comes across as a lucky and witless bystander.

Flea and Grasshopper want to know which of them can jump the highest, and decide to let the King judge. Frog tags along. The King is not keen to have his dinner interrupted, and none of the court are happy with the mess the creatures make in their efforts to win his favour. Ultimately, it is cleverness and not pride/skill/boasting that win the day.

Lots of food, silly antics, and general quirky humour carry the book, it’s a lovely little story that makes a perfect bedtime read.

For ages 2-6.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

Spring is well and truly here and in our gardens wildlife and bugs are stirring, ready for a season of hopping and bouncing around. But I bet they're not half as bouncy as the characters in this new picture book release, written by Peter Bently and illustrated by Claire Powell, which features a grasshopper, a flea and a frog.

When an argument breaks out between a grasshopper and a flea over who can jump the highest, they decide that only the King can settle the matter. Accompanied by a frog, they set out to the palace and unleash an hilarious chain of riotous chaos that dismally fails to impress His Majesty. But who will have the last laugh by leaping the highest?

This is a comical caper of a story, vibrantly illustrated and full of fun. Peter Bently's fabulous rhyme and rhythm is, as always, on top form, making the tale bouncier than the grasshopper, flea and frog put together. Despite being small in size, the characters are larger than life and full of so much energy, it makes the story zing!

Claire Powell's illustrations are both joyous and hilarious, portraying the slapstick humour of the text brilliantly. And yet, the story's climax hinges on a cleverer form of humour - a pun. The fact that this picture book is a innovative play on a joke not only makes for an unexpected but laugh out loud ending, but it also champions the underdog...or should I say the underfrog...

So, if you're looking for something light-hearted and frivolous but which also has the feel of an Aesops Fable crossed with a joke book, then this is the book for you. Little ones will love both the creatures and the comedy and will be bouncing up and down for you to read it over and over. Just don't let them leap too high!

The Royal Leap-Frog is released tomorrow, April 14th 2022. A big thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for allowing me a review copy.

We love The King's Birthday Suit so we were excited to receive the latest book in the series.

This is another hilarious story but this time a flea, a grasshopper and a frog are competing to show the King who can jump the highest. This causes all sorts of chaos in the royal dining hall. Who will jump the highest? Can the frog use his wits to outsmart the other two? My son's favourite character was the flea. He loved it at the end when he decides to make a home on the back of the Emperor's poodle!

Both of my children immediately loved this funny rhyming story. The fantastic, detailed illustrations are superb. We love all the expressions on the characters faces! There was so much to talk about in the pictures and we giggled along whilst reading it. A brilliant version of this perhaps less well known Hans Christian Anderson fable, The Leaping Match. We loved it!

Hilariously engrossing, this rhyming retelling takes you into the heart of contests and boasting.

It explodes with colours, a splendid visual feast, Landing you right in the middle of a Kings diner.

The rhyming text and super illustrations make this book a lovely, joyous read and adds hilarity and fun to this traditional fairytale.

The illustrations contain lots of detail and are the main feature on each page, they are wonderful for younger audiences as they reflect what’s happening in the text in wonderful detail.

A fantastic read for young and the young at heart who enjoy humour and a good old disaster!

A hilarious book about a frog, flea and a grasshopper who are all trying to see who can jump the highest. A beautiful illustrations that really help bring the book to life

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Royal Leap-Frog is a beautiful adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fable The Leap Frog. Claire Powell’s illustrations are gorgeous and each page was stunning. I loved the vibrant colour palette and the fun page layouts.

The writing was playful and funny. The rhyming prose by Peter Bently was easy to read and engaging. This would be an enjoyable and fun read for young children.

What a sweet book with gorgeous illustrations, a flea and a grasshopper compete to show the king who can jump highest - and they are joined by a frog. Both the flea and the grasshopper cause complete chaos and disaster in the palace, but what will the frog do? A welcome addition to any bookshelf, told in perfectly rhyming verse with a great range of language

A fun and swift moving tale of Flea and Grasshopper, competing who can jump higher. Deciding the best judge is the king, Frog goes along to watch the events unfold.
With bright fun illustrations and rhyming language, this is sue to be an interactive and fun story for all ages, but especially those still jump enough to have jumping competitions.

I love the illustrations, the colour palette in this adorable book, and the playful format that is highly engaging. I can see children laughing at the animals and learning more about them. Great work!

This book tells an enjoyable tale of the flea, the grasshopper and the frog who want to see who can jump the highest so they go to see the king. Lots of fun and mayhem. Enjoyable, easy to read rhymes with lovely illustrations. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Brilliant rhymed narrative about a competitive flea and grasshopper, who go along with a frog to the palace to get royal approval of their jumping skills. Mayhem ensues, of course. Also lively is the design, sometimes taking in the full stretch of the spread, sometimes breaking up the page in less appealing ways, but generally showing great visual qualities. It's the verse that this will be remembered for, however – four and a half stars any day of the week.

The Royal Leap-Frog is full of vivid, funny illustrations and clever rhyming prose which makes for a really entertaining read for adults and young children to share.