Judy and the Frogs Judy’s parents were frogs. She was just like all other ten-year-old human girls except for one thing...everyone in her family was a frog. Yes, that's right...a frog family. No one knew exactly how it happened, but the day she was born Judy turned out to be a human instead of a tadpole. Her frog family loved her as much as they loved all their other children who were real frogs. At first they were worried that all the frogs at the pond would make fun of Judy, but they did not. They were all very kind to her. Pretty soon everyone forgot that she was not a frog like them. After Judy was born, the years past quickly. She spent her days playing at the pond and having fun. The day after her tenth birthday Judy's parents received a letter from the Board of Education which said that Judy should have started to school when she was six years old. The letter said her parents must enroll her in school or they would be in a lot of trouble. Judy's parents realized that they would now have to start doing things that humans do. They told Judy that the next day she would be going to school, and they told her not to be afraid because the whole family would take her to school and come back to pick her up at the end of the school day. The next morning Judy's mom and dad drove her to school in an old car they found out by the pasture where Judy's friend, Hubert the cow, grazed. Riding along with them were Judy's brothers, sisters and grandparents. The people on the street in town stared when they saw a car full of frogs going down the street with one little girl peering out the back window. When they arrived at Rockdale Elementary School, Judy was so excited that she did a frog leap out of the car. As she marched up the steps, she saw a group of children staring at her. They were pointing and giggling. Judy wondered what was wrong with her. She looked down at her feet because sometimes she put her shoes on the wrong feet. The shoes were okay, she had no egg on her face and no milk mustache. Judy felt like crying because she was frightened. She was afraid of being in a strange place without her parents, and now she was scared of her classmates. She ran all the way up the stairs and kept running until she ran into a lady with gray hair. The lady was the principal, Miss Tower. Miss Tower, as you already know, has gray hair. Her lips were thin with bright red gloss on them. She had a tiny, straight nose, rosy dots of rouge on her cheeks, ears with clip-on earrings, and hazel eyes that looked gigantic behind her thick glasses. She wore a navy blue dress that hung all the way down to her black combat boots. Miss Tower straightened herself up and holding Judy by the shoulders said, "Well, welcome to Rockdale." Judy began to feel a little bit better and said, "I don't know where I'm supposed to be." Miss Tower took her by the hand and led her down the hall past about 200 lockers to a door that had the number twelve above it. There was list of names on the wall beside the door that Miss Tower scanned carefully. "There is your name, Judy Green. This is your classroom. Let's go in and meet your teacher," said Miss Tower. Judy followed Miss Tower into the brightly colored classroom and the first students Judy saw were the ones who had laughed at her on the steps outside the school. Now they all had big grins on their small faces. Judy turned to walk right back out the door, but Miss Tower spun her around toward the classroom. Miss Tower introduced Judy to her teacher. "This is Mrs. Smith," she said. "Hello," Judy meekly replied. Mrs. Smith noticed the tear stains on Judy's cheeks and her pale complexion. Mrs. Smith told Judy this was the first day of school for all the children, and that everyone was a little scared and nervous. Mrs. Smith's kindness made Judy feel better again. Mrs. Smith said, "Today we will all get to know one another, and you will all make some new friends." One of the boys whispered to his friend next to him, "Yeah, right." They both snickered. Judy looked at the smirking children and smiled, but what she really wanted to do was jump out the window and run home as fast as her legs would take her. Judy's brothers had taught her to be a pretty good jumper, so she knew she could jump out of there fast before any of them could say Jack Sprat. Mrs. Smith led Judy to her desk in the front row and put her school supplies in her cubby. A young boy named Alex Cooper was seated behind Judy. So no one else could hear, he whispered in Judy's ear, "Do you know what my dad and I do on Saturday nights?" "No," Judy replied. "We wait until dark, and we go down to our pond and hunt frogs. It's called frog gigging," Alex said. Suddenly, Judy's stomach felt like it was doing flip flops, and she thought she was going to be sick. You see, she really never knew her family were frogs until one day in the barn when she saw an old first grade reading book with pictures that resembled her family. She took the book home and showed her mom. She saw the word, frog, below the picture. Her mom explained to her that this was the name of all her family members. Judy asked her mother, "Why am I so different? I feel so ugly." Judy's mom told her that she did not know why she was made differently from the rest of her family, but that they all loved her very much anyway. Alex interrupted Judy's thoughts when he said, "My family loves to eat frog legs for dinner. They taste kind of like chicken." Judy was very angry now, so she turned around to Alex and asked him, "What do you have against frogs?" Alex was shocked at this question and did not know what to say. At last he found his voice and answered, "They are slimy little things that give people warts, and they make noises that keep me up all night in the spring and summer. I can't even keep my window open at night for all their croaking racket, them and those old crazy crickets! I can't wait until I am over at the high school in Biology lab where I can dissect one of those little toads." Judy's temper began to flame. She moved her arm and in one sweep pushed all of Alex's school supplies onto the floor. Mrs. Smith almost fell out of her chair as she jumped up and ran over to Judy's desk. "Judy!" she shrieked. "This is not a very good way to start the school year. I think we need a parent's conference request from Miss Tower at once!" "But...but...but," Judy stuttered. "No buts about it. We must stop this now. Tell Alex you are sorry and pick up his supplies so I can put them away," Mrs. Smith said. Judy glared at Alex knowing she could never explain to Mrs. Smith why she did that to him. In a quiet voice Judy said, "I'm sorry." Then she thought for a minute and added, "You should not dislike someone just because they are different. I love my family no matter what they are, and I don't care what you think, and frogs do not give people warts!" "Your family!?" Alex exclaimed. "That was your family? Maybe you can bring them for show-and-tell. Or maybe they can be your science project. You will win a first place blue ribbon." Judy gave him a look that said she was tired of listening to him, then she turned back around in her desk. The bell rang for lunch, and Judy's stomach was growling because she was so hungry. The children gathered their lunch bags and boxes and headed for the cafeteria. Mrs. Smith made Alex and Judy sit together for their punishment. As Judy was getting her lunch out Alex leaned over and asked her, "What's in your lunch bag, flies and worms?" He laughed. Judy tried to ignore him and removed her peanut butter and jelly sandwich from her brown bag with Kermit on the front. Alex mumbled, "I sure hope my mom put the left over frog legs in my bag." Judy grabbed his bag and hurled it clear across the room barely missing Miss Tower's gray head. A hush fell over the lunchroom, and all the students became very still as if they were frozen. Miss Tower spun around on the heel of her boot and frowned at the students. She bellowed at the top of her lungs, "Who is responsible for this?" No one uttered a sound, but she noticed that Alex was the only one sitting without a lunch bag in front of him. She picked the bag up from the floor and read across the front, Alex Cooper. In two giant steps she lunged over to Alex. She pulled him up by the ear and dragged him from the cafeteria. Judy laughed and laughed and laughed. The thought of seeing Alex kicking and screaming on his way out the door satisfied her anger at last. Judy began to eat her lunch, but the peanut butter and jelly sandwich seemed to stick in her throat. All of a sudden she was no longer hungry. A little voice inside of Judy told her she was being just as mean as Alex had been. Judy answered the voice, "But he was being so cruel to me." The voice answered back, "Repay meanness with love and kindness. If you are kind to Alex, he will stop being mean to you. I know it will not be easy, but you must be strong and remember the lessons your parents have taught you." Judy thought about what her conscience was telling her and raised her hand to ask permission to be excused. She found her way to the hallway and slowly walked down the long hall to Miss Tower's office. She stopped at the door and knocked. No one answered so she walked right on in. Alex was standing in the corner crying, and Miss Tower was dialing the telephone. "Excuse me, M...Miss T...Tower," Judy stammered. Miss Tower put down the receiver and said, "Judy, I'm sorry but this is not a very good time for you to be here." "But Miss Tower," Judy continued. "It was not Alex who threw the bag. It was me, but I was not trying to hit you with it." Miss Tower became quiet. She walked over to Alex, and he quickly put his hands over his ears. "Don't worry Alex, I'm not going to grab your ear again. I am sorry I thought you threw the bag." Then Alex looked at Judy and said, "No Miss Tower, she is wrong. I threw the bag." Judy was shocked at what he said and replied, "I threw the sack and he knows it!" Miss Tower slumped over her desk, flopping her gray head on it and moaned, "This does present a problem. Both of you will miss recess for a week, and I will have to telephone your parents." Alex and Judy left the office in silence, but it seemed as though a new friendship was blossoming. Neither of them could understand their feelings. At two o’clock the bell rang for school to end. Judy flew out of the classroom to search for her parents who she knew would be waiting. As soon as she saw them, she dashed into the car and began to cry. "I hate school, and I'm never going back!" she said. Judy's mother tried to comfort her when she said, "Dear, you must go back, but you will feel better tomorrow because I am sending your brothers and sisters with you. They want to go to school too." Judy was horrified and pleaded, "Oh no, you can't...the school children will kill them and eat their legs!" "What are you talking about?" asked her mother. Judy tried to explain, "The girls and boys do not like you because you are frogs." Judy's mother answered, "Well, it is time for a change in this world, and maybe it will have to start in this school. People must look on the inside, in someone's heart, instead of looking on the outside. Yes, we are different, but we still have feelings like others. They have no reason to hate us. We have never harmed them." Judy said, "You do not understand. These people hunt frogs and cut off their legs and eat them and dissect them in Biology lab too." Judy's mother tried to reason with her, "We cannot run away and be afraid or we will be hiding all our lives. We must face our fears." Judy knew she would not be able to convince her kindhearted mother, so she quietly rode the rest of the way home. When they got home, Judy walked into their cozy kitchen where she could smell freshly baked ginger cookies still sitting warm on the stove. The stone fireplace was glowing with warm friendship. Judy wanted to stay in her comfortable home where she was loved and never return to school again. The sun was slipping down past a mountain in the far off distance which told Judy that bed time was approaching. Mona, one of Judy's older twin sisters was laying her clothes out for school. Lena, the other twin, was watching so she would know what to wear. Mona asked her sister, "What are you doing?" Lena answered, "I am not going to school looking like the Bopsy twins. I am tired of mother dressing us alike. I want to be me, not half of you." Hearing all the commotion, their mother walked in the door. "Okay girls, time for bed," she ordered. Judy snuggled beneath her warm quilt but felt that she would not be able to sleep. She was afraid that the next day would be a nightmare. She could hear her brothers in the next room. Kevin was angry because he did not want to go to school, and Larry was jumping from one bed to the other. Finally, Judy drifted off to sleep, haunted by dreams of children chasing her brothers and sisters all over the schoolyard with nets and lunch boxes. It seemed as if Judy had just fallen asleep when the sun peeked through her window, bringing with it the sweet scent of cedar and honeysuckle. The aroma of waffles and fresh, hot chocolate drifted up the stairs. Judy's first thoughts were of a romp in the meadow and a dip in the pond, then reality came back to her. She pulled the covers over her head and moaned, "No...no...no." After trying to choke down her breakfast, Judy and the frogs packed into the car. It trailed down the old dusty road toward the school. The twins were chattering nonstop while the brothers complained. Judy was silent. The car pulled up to the curb, and the family said their goodbyes. As the odd looking group walked up the steps, the shocked students began to stare with their mouths hanging open. Then they began to laugh, all except Alex. He merely watched with a strange expression on his face. Again, in the hallway stood Miss Tower. She was dressed in the same clothes as the day before. The students had joked that Miss Tower had only five outfits, all alike. Judy walked as her brothers and sisters hopped. Miss Tower stared at the group and gave a sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Judy Green! We cannot bring pets to our school!" Miss Tower scolded. "These are not my pets. They are my family," Judy replied, "and they want to come to school too." "I've had about enough of you, young lady. Your imagination has gotten out of control!" Miss Tower was being very firm. "No, they really are my family," Judy tried to explain. "But we do not allow frogs in school," Miss Tower answered. "Why not? They want to learn," Judy pleaded. "Well, we just don't. They are not...not human," Miss Tower said as she kept from looking at Judy's family. "So just because they are different, they cannot come to school? That's not fair. I won't come to school either," said Judy. "But you have to go to school, it is the law," Miss Tower said. Judy begged, "They may not look like all of you, but they feel the same inside. We all want to learn to read and write and make new friends and some day go to school dances and football games. My brothers could slam dunk for the basketball team like you would not believe. Can't you just give them a chance? If you don't, they will have to spend the rest of their lives in a muddy old pond never knowing anything except how to run from the scary old frog hunters. School is their only way to freedom." "But they don't...don't fit in here," Miss Tower insisted. "What do they have to do to fit in? Make fun of others? Laugh at those who are different?" Judy cried. Miss Tower thought about this and said, "Okay, we may give them a chance, but I cannot promise how the other students will behave toward them." While Miss Tower was talking, Alex walked over with a group of students following close behind. Alex said to Miss Tower, "We are very sorry for teasing Judy and her family. Judy came to the office yesterday and told you the truth about the lunch sack being thrown. She had a good reason to throw my sack because I had been mean to her all day. She threw it because I told her there were frog legs in my lunch box. I know now that Judy's family has taught her to be kind, and if her family is different then that's straight with me. Maybe we can learn new things from one another. Please let them stay." Miss Tower then asked, "But what will your parents say?" "Maybe our parents can learn from us that we should all stop hating and start showing love to people and animals," Alex said as he smiled at Judy and her family. Miss Tower said, "We are here to please the students, so okay. They can stay." The girls and boys gathered around the new students and began to make friends. As they were walking down the hall together, Alex asked Judy if they could find some fun things to do together after school and on weekends. Judy stopped in the middle of the hallway, looked at him and said, "Anything except frog hunting." They gave each other a high five and skipped off to their class. Discussion Questions 1. How do you know this is not a true story? Is it fiction or nonfiction? 2. Why do you think the author gave the main character the name, Judy Green? 3. How do you feel about Miss Tower grabbing Alex by the ear? What else could she have done? 4. What does it mean when someone has hazel eyes? 5. What tells you the setting of the story? Why are they using a fireplace at Judy's house when it must be August or September when most children start to school and when it is still warm outside. 6. Why did Alex act cruel to Judy at the beginning of the story? 7. What made Alex change? 8. What lesson did you learn from the story? Vocabulary Words combat boots smirking warts tadpole dissect resembled enroll complexion cedar show-and-tell hurled dashed bellowed reasoned conscience blossoming flame mustache Question For Brainstorming What does it mean when it is said to face our fears? Answer Key 1. This is not a true story because Judy could not be born into a family of frogs. Also, frogs do not drive cars, they could not reach the gas and break pedals. Frogs do not live in houses, bake cookies, or cook breakfast. If a bunch of frogs came into a school, the principal would make them leave. The story is fiction because it is not true. Nonfiction is a true story. 2. The author named her Judy Green because frogs are green and because the author's name is Judy. 3. I feel that Miss Tower should not have grabbed Alex by the ear. She could have gently lifted him by the arm. 4. When someone has hazel eyes they are greenish blue and sometimes change colors. 5. The setting of the story describes where the story takes place. The sun slipped behind the mountain in the story so it must take place in the mountains. They are using a fireplace because in the mountains the weather gets cooler at night and in the early mornings than in other regions. 6. Alex acted cruel to Judy in the beginning because he saw the frogs in the car with her, and when she informed him they were her family, he really freaked. 7. Alex changed because Judy was kind to him in the principal's office and admitted she had thrown the lunch sack. 8. From this story I learned not to judge people because they look different from me. Vocabulary Word Key 1. combat boots - big, bulky boots that army people wear 2. tadpole - a baby frog 3. enroll - to register or start something like school 4. show-and-tell - when students bring something to school to share with their class; usually it is something unique and different 5. bellowed - said in a loud voice 6. blossoming - beginning to grow 7. smirking - with a mean expression on the face 8. dissect - to cut apart and locate body organs 9. complexion - the skin coloring or texture 10. hurled - threw it 11. reasoned - tried to make sense of something 12. flame - to get hot 13. warts - little mounds of skin that appear because of a virus 14. resembled - appearing to look like something else 15. cedar - a type of evergreen tree 16. dashed - hurried 17. conscience - that little feeling inside of you that tells you to do something kind instead of something cruel 18. mustache - a line of hair that grows above the top lip, normally on a man
Copyright © 1997 Judith Z Marrs |