Fabulous Frogs ANNOTATION
Simple text and illustrations present the physical characteristics, habits, and life cycle of the frog. Includes a separate question-and-answer section with more information about the different kinds, their way of life, and endangered status.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A delightfully simple lyrical text about the life of the frog is enhanced by a picture book format. The book is patterned after this author/artist team's earlier title "Wonderful Worms" which has enjoyed tremendous success in both hardcover and paperback, as well as in subsidiary sales in the textbook market.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Susan Hepler
This companion to their Wonderful Worms book lets Glaser and Krupinski convey their enthusiasm for frogs (a leopard frog, unidentified, is probably the one depicted most frequently here). While most of the hard information is included in endmatter featuring four pages of "Fabulous Facts about Frogs," the modest text and pictures nonetheless convey frog sounds, habitat, life cycle details including mating ("the two swim together..."), and other behaviors. Krupinski's stunning paintings depict predators and the flora of frog pond habitats especially well. Most second graders could read the main body of the text by themselves and the endmatter is helpfully arranged in a question-and-answer format with bold headings so as not to overwhelm young readers. There is no index, but the book is short enough so that young researchers can find answers to their questions.
Children's Literature - Childrens Literature
At first glance, this appears to be a child's picture book about frogs. A closer examination of the text reveals extensive information about frogs, including their habitat and life cycle. The pictures make the learning fun and the text is provided in a rhythmical fashion that reminds one of a leaping frog. The reader will learn about the common frog, the leopard frog, the spring peeper and the bullfrog. A four-page section in the back gives students additional information on a higher reading level, using a question and answer format. Addresses are given for agencies that will provide additional information by mail. This author has also written books, using this format, about worms, bats, and spiders. This is a recommended title for elementary science classrooms and library collections. 1999, Millbrook Press, Ages 6 to 8, $21.90 and $7.95. Reviewer: Joyce Rice
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 1-This picture book has a fun, simple text replete with froggy sounds and a rhythm and rhyme or near-rhyme that give it a pleasant, poetic flavor. The book presents the life (from mating to birth to growth) of a common frog while featuring illustrations of the leopard frog, spring peeper, and bullfrog. The typeface is arranged to reflect the creatures' activities, alternately leaping across the page or growing larger or smaller with the volume of the animal's songs. The attractive, full-color drawings with richly colored backgrounds add to the feeling of the cool quiet of night or of the private, underwater world of the pond. A brief section at the back of the book offers facts in a question-and-answer format on a higher reading level. This title doesn't have as much information as Douglas Florian's Discovering Frogs (Scribners, 1986) and the illustrations cannot compare as a presentation of science with the stunning detail of the photographs found in Karen Wallace's Tale of a Tadpole (DK, 1998). However, it will work well in a storyhour, where it will pair well with Robert Kalan's Jump, Frog, Jump (Greenwillow, 1995) or Barbara Ann Porte's Tale of a Tadpole (Orchard,1997).-Stephanie Bianchi, National Science Foundation Library, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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