The Toad Prince - Rebecca Lisle

This is a modern version of the fairy tale about the Princess who kisses a frog, and he turns into a Prince - although in this retelling, she kisses a toad, and he doesn't turn into a Prince immediately. Oh no. He just falls in love with her generous spirit, and then has to get a wizard to perform the transformation. Very luckily he is friendly with the Court Magician's shaggy dog, and between them they manage to manipulate the wizard's magic for their own ends. The toad makes an incredibly ugly Prince (all protruding eyes, and prehensile tongue, not to mention an abiding delight in eating flies). How amazing that the Princess is just like him! They could have been made for each other!