Reviews

PreS-Gr 1 ``Picasso could plop into a muddy puddle and turn brown.'' This sets up the situation for a green tree frog who can change color with his surroundings. The idea of a chameleon-like tree frog becoming multicolored when he falls into a jar of jellybeans has the potential for fun, but this enactment fails to leap out with creative charm. Vivid and predominantly green double-page spreads overpower the thin story, which lacks fluidity. The story holds no surprises, and there is no sense to the ending. Picasso ``regreens'' by eating all of the jellybeans except the green ones. He thinks that he is himself againbut he can't see his backside, which is resting against a multi-colored caterpillar. Although the illustrations are splashy, an overall coyness in the text, including the frog's name, muddies the effect. Julie Cummins, New York Public Library