In this tale of the Frog Princess the village headman brings many suitors to court his daughter. She islikes all of them and even goes as far as proclaiming that she would rather marry a frog from the lake instead of marry any of her suitors. That night a mysterious man appears in the young girl's bedroom asking if she meant what she said about sooner marrying a frog than any one of the suitors her father had chosen for her. The girl answers yes and the youngman leads her to the lake where he lift the water up as if it were a quilt on a bed. She is welcomed by the Frog People and marries the man and they raise a family.Meanwhile, on land, her parents miss her. They even hold a funeral feast, believing she is dead. A passing traveler tells the headman that he saw a beautiful girl sitting on a log surrounded by frogs singing and dancing. The traveler's description of the girl matches that of his daughter and the headman goes to the lake summoning the Chief of the Frog People. The headman threatens war with the Frog People is his daughter is not returned and the Chief, not wanting to enter into war, agrees to return the young girl.
The young girl appears changed. Her eyes blge more like a frog's and her fingers have grown longer. She no longer speaks or eats. She is miserable without her husband and family. She spends her nights walking along the lakeshore. One night she goes missing. The headman searched for her and tried to summon the Chief again, but the frogs seemed to have moved on. The story ends with another passing traveler speaking with a frog who asks him to pass a message on to the headman: Her daughter is well and happy with her husband and children. The travler has no problem understanding the frog(s) because they were all taking in Tlingit.
Older readers (11 and up) will enjoy this retelling and the culture of the tribe it hails from.
Genre: Fairy tale/Folktale
Kimmel, E.A. (2006). The frog princess: A Tlingit legend from Alaska. New York: Holiday House.
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