Greedy Frog

Written and illustrated by Greg Dreise

Magabala Books 2026

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

Gregg Dreise is an award-winning Indigenous Australian author, illustrator, musician and storyteller, whose books, such as Cunning Crow, Mad Magpie, Kookoo Kook, and Awesome Emu, can be found in our libraries and homes.  His delightfully illustrated children’s books usually celebrate his Indigenous culture through Dreamtime stories, moral lessons regarding bullying, friendship, kindness and connection to Country. His heritage as a descendant of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi peoples from south-west Queensland and north-west New South Wales strongly influences his work. Greedy Frog aimed at 3- to 8-year-olds, is both entertaining, educational and a lesson in the importance of sharing and supporting each other in hard times.

The eye-catching cover with a bloated bright green frog, and recognisable indigenous patterns leads into a Dreamtime story in the Outback. There is a drought; Yirray the sun is slowly drinking (evaporating) all the water. Kangaroo and wombat both protect their waterhole, when Tjidalih the clever Green Frog convinces them to safely store some of their water in his pouch. With the help of some magic, Tjidalih sucked up all their water as well as Emu’s creek and when asked to return some he simply said M-MM As if to say No. Thankfully, wombat’s clever idea saves the day.

The bold colourful illustrations invite the reader through 32 pages of visual narrative supported by the voice of the author as he engages in storytelling and introduces the reader to some Gamilaraay words.It is a satisfying tale of creative problem solving in the face of greed and deception. The additional factual information about The Tjidalih or Water Holding Frog in the back pages is worth reading.

For ages 3 – 8