PREVIEW Almost Hardly`s Frog Stories 1-2-3

ALMOST HARDLY’S FROG STORIES
1-2-3
Written by Jim Kline
Illustrated by Penny Bradley
INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS
AIKEN, SC
www.instructionalsystems.org
Narrative Copyright © 2004, 2013, 2014 by Instructional Systems & Jim Kline; Illustrations
Copyright © 2014 by Instructional Systems & Penny Bradley. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and Publisher.
[FOR PREVIEW ONLY--NOT FOR SALE OR DUPLICATION]
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This ebook for children is the primary grades version of The Adventures of Almost Hardly
the Frog, which is intended for middle school level. Both versions provide a lively and
humorous poetic narrative relating the antics and adventures of a young frog curiously
named Almost Hardly. The intended audience for this version is made up of preschoolers
through third graders (K, 1,2 & 3) and their accompanying retinue of parents, teachers,
babysitters, aunts, uncles, Mi-Maws, Poppys, and occasional siblings. It is a lively story
told in an uncomplicated poetic format that encourages novice readers to explore poetic
speech patterns and repetition to anticipate what comes next and to add some new words
to their active reading and oral vocabulary. Helpful reading instructional activities,
including the role of poetry in story-telling, can be found on the publisher’s website:
www.instructionalsystems.org
This book is about a young frog who almost gets in trouble almost all of the time but hardly
ever passes up the opportunity to meet new swamp critters including two bi-lingual
children (English/French) who have totally opposite opinions of frogs. Almost Hardly
learns about the abundant rewards and occasional dangers of curiosity as well as the value
of persistence and perseverance. Our illustrator has captured Almost’s close calls vividly
and memorably.
ALMOST HARDLY’S FROG STORIES
Near a fork in a bayou lived this frog,
A strange frog we call Almost Hardly.
We call him this name
Because he’s nearly to blame
For the mess that he’s in, almost hardly.
Oh, this frog what an odd bird he is.
He don’t have a tail almost hardly.
He jumps and he jumps,
And he lands on a stump
On his tail that he don’t have almost hardly.
Oh, the frog what a rare bird he is.
He don’t sing so good almost hardly.
He croak and he croak,
And he sings to the folk
A song they don’t hear almost hardly
Oh, this frog what a strange bird he is.
He don’t eat too much almost hardly.
He slurp and he croak,
And the flies he do poke
In his mouth with his tongue almost hardly.
A L M OS T H A R D L Y A ND L A JE U NE F I L L E , A D E L
Oh, this frog what a fine bird he is.
On a lily he sits almost hardly.
His eyes they did peek,
An adventure to seek
In this swamp that he loves Almost Hardly.
la Jeune Fille
(la june fee ) the young girl
Now, came to the swamp a young girl,
From her bateau she spies Almost Hardly
She says, “Petit Prince,
let’s go to the dance
And show mes amis Almost Hardly. “
Petit Prince (pay tee pronce): Little Prince
mes amis (mays a mee) my friends.
Oh, this frog what a dumb bird he is,
He won’t say a word almost hardly.
He thinks, “With a kiss
From this beautimous miss,
A true prince I will be Almost Hardly!”
Beautimous (beauty mus) Almost Hardly’s made-up word for beautiful.
Now, into the pirogue he hopped,
Adel and this frog Almost Hardly.
At the party he’d steal
A kiss and a meal,
How happy this frog, Almost Hardly.
pirogue (pea row) A canoe or flat-bottom boat.
Oh, the girl put our frog in a poke.
No kiss got our frog, Almost Hardly.
With cousins and brothers
And uncles and others
Our frog’s in a mess, almost hardly.
poke (poke) A very old word for a bag.
Now, our frog what a sly bird he is,
He said, “We all jump!” Almost Hardly.
So they jump and they bump,
And the boat hit a stump,
And spilt all the frogs, almost hardly.
Oh, the girl was upset, this Adel.
“Some day I’ll be back, Almost Hardly,
And find you somewhere,
Be it here or be there,
And your goose I will cook, Almost Hardly!”
Now, you know what a strange bird he is,
This frog that we call Almost Hardly.
He jumped on a pad,
And with all that he had,
He croaked, “ADIEU!” almost hardly.
Adieu! (a ju) Goodbye!
Oh this frog what a sad bird he is.
His Princess is gone almost hardly.
“No joy in this world for poor me!
My Adel has just set me free
Now there’ll be no ‘you and me,’ Almost Hardly.”
ALMOST HARDLY AND TWO SNAKES
In the swamp was a small snake, Tout Suite,
Who chose for a meal Almost Hardly.
You see, this Tout Suite,
He could swim with no feet,
And he snuck up beside Almost Hardly.
Tout Suite: [FR: tout de suite ] (toot sweet) ‘right away,’ ‘ very quickly.’
Oh, our frog what a rare bird he is.
He don’t fear no snake, almost hardly.
He jump and he croak,
With the snake he did joke,
Until et up he was almost hardly.
Oh, the snake his eyes were too big.
For his tummy can’t hold Almost Hardly.
He spit him back up,
And give up his sup,
So hopped away clean Almost Hardly.
sup
supper ( An evening meal. The main meal of the day in many parts of the U. S.)
Now the butt of the jokes was Tout Suite
In the swamp full of snakes almost hardly.
They say he’s too skinny
To swallow a penny,
Let alone this grand frog, Almost Hardly.
A cousin there was of Tout Suite,
Unbeknownst to our frog Almost Hardly.
He lived in a bog
Down under a log
And he vowed to eat up Almost Hardly.
His name was N’est Pas Mon Ami,
An he found all about Almost Hardly,
And N’est Pas the snake
He promised to take
In his belly our frog, Almost Hardly.
N’est Pas Mon Ami (ness pa mown a mee) It loosely means ‘not my friend.’
Oh, this serpent a bad bird, he is.
Freezes frogs with his eyes, almost hardly.
He swims with no feet,
Just like Tout Suite,
And slithers up side Almost Hardly.
But Hardly was gone from the scene,
His cuz took his place, almost hardly.
And Wide Mouth the frog
Sat up on the log
And croaked like his cuz Almost Hardly.
cuz
cousin (a Shakespearean period word still used today).
“Allez vous ” to our frog says N’est Pas.
“Please join me for lunch, Almost Hardly?
Whatever you eat,
Can’t be much of a feat,
For a wide mouth like you, Almost Hardly.”
Allez vous (ally voo):
Short for Comment allez vous : How are you?
Wide Mouth was so vain he just grinned,
With mouth wide and thin, almost hardly.
“FAT FLIES I DO SLURPS,
WHEN I FILLS UP I BURPS!”
“HOW ‘BOUT YOU?” belched our frog, almost hardly.
Now N’est Pas at our frog he did stare,
At the frog that he thought Almost Hardly.
“N’est Pas is my name.
Eatin’ frogs is my game,
And I love the WIDE MOUTHS, Almost Hardly.”
Wide Mouth what a smart mouth he have.
He can’t stop him self, almost hardly.
He swallowed his fear,
“Do you see any here?”
In a small voice he did say, almost hardly.
N’est Pas was not a dumb asp.
One frog’s like another, almost hardly.
So, quick as a snake
This frog he did take
In his mouth for a meal Almost Hardly.
Asp, A snake found in the Nile region of North Africa
Now the Hawk is a great bird to know.
This swamp is his home almost hardly.
A snake for a meal
And maybe an eel
And Wide Mouth got away, almost hardly.
Now N’est Pas the snake’s in a jam,
The hawk has him good, almost hardly.
But it wasn’t his day,
N’est Pas got away,
As later we hear from A. Hardly.
ALMOST HARDLY AND LE GARÇON PHIL IPPE
To the swamp came a boy named Philippe.
He looked and he saw Almost Hardly.
He wanted to play
With the frog all the day,
So he grabbed him up quick, almost hardly.
le garçon Philippe: (lay GAR sone) The boy (about 8) Philippe (fill LEAP)
This frog thinks this boy is no harm,
In the pirogue he sat, Almost Hardly.
To the dock he does float
in the front of the boat,
And who does he see, almost hardly?
Oh, this frog’s so surprised who he sees
That he can’t make a croak, almost hardly.
‘Cause this boy, they do tell,
Is the frère of Adel,
So what’s he do now, Almost Hardly?
Frère (phrare or frare) Brother
Now Adel she knows this Wowaron
Because his feet are so wide, almost hardly.
“You lost me my frogs
In the swamps and the bogs,
And here you be now, Almost Hardly!”
Wowaron (wah a RON) An old French Canadian word for bullfrog that sounds like a
bullfrog.
Now Philippe what a good boy he is.
He liked this frog, Almost Hardly.
“Yes, he be my friend
Thru the thick and the thin,”
To his sister he said almost hardly.
Now the boy and the frog, bon amis,
Will explore the swamp, almost hardly.
They will look under logs
And search all the bogs
This pair, what a fine one they will be!
Bon amis
[FR: bons amis](bone a meez) good friends.
Our friends, what good ones they are!
The boy and the frog Almost Hardly.
That night in their sleep,
The frog and Philippe,
They dream of such fun, almost hardly.
~ THE END ~
LANGUAGE NOTES
“Swamp Talk” is a patois (pat wha), a manner of speech shared by the critters large and
small in this story who live in the swampy environs of the bayou. A patois is the familiar
and comfortable language spoken by a small group that differs from the main language
(English in this case) in grammar and certain words taken from another language spoken
by parents and grandparents of the swamp dwellers. In our story the borrowed words are
mostly French in origin. A speaker’s use of a patois is nothing to be ashamed of, but it is
important to be a good speaker of the main language as well. The narrator of the story uses
Standard English, for the most part (“he don’t” being a notable exception). Almost Hardly
and the other characters in the story use “Swamp Talk.”
FRENCH PHRASES AND OTHER ODD WORDS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
la Jeune Fille
(la june fee ) the young girl
Petit Prince (pay tee pronce) little Prince
mes amis (mays a mee) my friends.
beautimous (beauty muss) Almost Hardly’s made-up word for very beautiful.
pirogue (pea row) A canoe or flat-bottom boat.
poke (poke) A very old word for a bag.
Adieu (a ju) Goodbye
Tout Suite [FR: tout de suite](toot sweet) The name of the first snake in our story.
name means “right now.”
sup
The
supper ( An evening meal. The main meal of the day in many parts of the U. S.)
Unbeknownst
An old word for the idea of “not known to.”
N’est Pas Mon Ami (ness pa mown a mee) The name of the second snake. It loosely means
“not my friend.”
cuz
cousin (a Shakespearean period word,still used today).
Allez vous! Short for Comment allez vous!
(How are you!)
Asp, A snake found in the Nile region of North Africa
le garçon Philippe (lay GAR son fill leap) The boy, Philippe.
Frère (phrare or frare)
Brother.
Wowaron (wah a RON) An old French Canadian word for bullfrog that sounds like a
bullfrog. Try it!
Bon amis
[FR: bons amis](bone a meez) good friends.
[NOTE: All translations and pronunciation guides are loose interpretations of the “Swamp
Talk” dialect as used by the critters and children in these stories.]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE ILLUSTRATOR
The author, Jim Kline, is a retired college teacher (Language, Literature, and English as a
Second Language) who earned degrees from Georgia Southern College(BS 1964), the
University of Georgia (MA 1967) and the University of Nevada Reno (Ph D 1972). He has
written poetry for young readers (Hoggerel, The Frog and the Snake); however, this is his
first children’s book. He and his wife Mary live in Aiken, SC where they entertain and are
entertained by numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The Illustrator, Penny Bradley, earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing
from the University of Georgia in 1968. After raising their three children in the Atlanta
area, she and her husband Jim have happily retired to the Northeast Georgia Mountains.
Surrounded by nature’s beauty, the blessings of family, and the joy of three young
grandchildren, she has been able to devote full time to her love of watercolor painting. This
is her first attempt at illustrating.
(For more information see the Almost Hardly link on the Instructional Systems website:
www.instructionalsystems.org )