France

Scott No.: 2491a, *2487 (strip of 6)
Date of Issue: June 24, 1995

Also see: First Day Covers, Postal Stationery.

Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was a French fabulist; these stamps were issued on the three hundredth anniversary of his death. In this story, a frog, impressed by the ox's size, tries to inflate himself until he is bigger. It doesn't, of course, end well for the frog.
Adapted for children by William Trowbridge Larned (1918), the story goes:

There was a little Frog
Whose home was in a bog
And he worried 'cause he wasn't big enough.
He sees an ox and cries:

"That's just about my size,
If I stretch myself--Say Sister, see me puff!"
So he blew, blew, blew,
Saying: "Sister, will that do?"
But she shook her head. And then he lost his wits.
For he stretched and puffed again
Till he cracked beneath the strain,
And burst, and flew about in little bits.

This story is also featured on a stamp from Albania.

Scott No.: 2779a
Date of Issue: June 17, 2000
Souvenir sheet with a frog in the margin (upper left-hand corner)

Scott No.: 3105a
Date of Issue: April 25, 2005
Souvenir sheet with a frog in the outer right margin. It looks like it might be a Poison Dart Frog.

Scott No.: 4618, 4619a (set of 12)
Date of Issue: May 3, 2014
Set: Holidays

Scott No.:
Date of Issue: May 4, 2015
Europa 2015: Old Toys

Scott No.: 4843
Date of Issue: July 31, 2015
Set: "The Animals are Watching Us"
Species: Red-eyed Tree Frog

Scott No.: 5791, *5794a (booklet pane)
Date of Issue: February 7, 2020
Set: Animals of the World
Species: Edible Frog (Pelophylax esculentus)

Scott No.: 6066a, 6066 (souvenir sheet)
Date of Issue: July 12, 2021
Set: Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695). The tale is "The Frog Who Could Make Himself as Big as an Ox."

Scott No.: B 512
Date of Issue: December 2, 1978
Red Cross Stamp Booklet

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