The Frog in the Well

By Caldecott Medal winners Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin, The Frog in the Well is the charming tale of a brave frog who beats his fears and explores the world

Once upon a time there was a frog who lived at the bottom of a well. The well was the frog’s whole world, until the day the well ran dry and the bugs began to disappear. What was happening to the world, the frog wondered, and what could he do? The hungry frog decided he must hop to the top of the well to see what he could of the end of the world. Conquering his fear, he peered out, and what did he see? Trees, flowers, meadows, marshes, and all kinds of end-of-the-world creatures! Entranced, the little frog ventured forth to find out more about the world outside his own. Based on a classic Chinese fable, and written and illustrated by the Caldecott-winning Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin, The Frog in the Well is a charming tale of one brave frog and his journey into wisdom.

Alvin Tresselt (1916–2000) was a children’s book author whose books have sold more than a million copies. White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, won a Caldecott Medal in 1948. Tresselt was also the editor of Humpty Dumpty Magazine and the executive editor and vice president of Parents’ Magazine Press from 1967 to 1974.

Roger Duvoisin (1900–1980) was born to a French-Swiss family in Geneva, where he began a career in art and textile design before immigrating to the United States in 1925. Duvoisin collaborated with many writers, including his wife, Louise Fatio Duvoisin, and Alvin Tresselt, with whom he won a Caldecott Award for White Snow, Bright Snow in 1948 and the Caldecott Honor Award for Hide and Seek Fog in 1966. He is best known for his classic of children’s literature, Petunia.