Happy Friday, Everyone!
Just a quick note: this is the second to last week of Perfect Picture Books before the annual summer hiatus! Next week will be our last Perfect Picture Book until September. We all need a little break… and maybe this will be the summer I catch up on updating. You never know… it COULD happen! 🙂
As I’m sure you remember from Wednesday’s S’mores, I’ve got summer on the brain! 🙂
I don’t know about you, but when we were kids, summer was a time for wading in the brook (which was always surprisingly cold even when the weather was scorching!) trying (unsuccessfully!) to catch minnows, darting along the edge of the lawn at twilight trying (slightly less unsuccessfully!) to catch fireflies, and squidging through mud at the edge of ponds trying (mostly unsuccessfully!) to catch frogs!
Today’s Perfect Picture Book is all about frogs, although I confess I don’t think I ever saw any of these beauties near any pond I ever frequented! 🙂
Title: Frog Song
Written By: Brenda Z. Guiberson
Illustrated By: Gennady Spirin
Henry Holt & Co, 2013, Nonfiction
Suitable For Ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: nonfiction, nature, frogs, language fun (onomatopoeia), environmental protection
Opening: “Frogs have a song for trees, bogs, burrows, and logs. When frogs have enough moisture to keep gooey eggs, squirmy tadpoles, and hoppity adults from drying out, they can sing almost anywhere. Croak! Ribbit! Bzzzt! Plonk! Brack! Thrum-rum!”
Brief Synopsis: From the jacket: “Since the time of the dinosaurs, frogs have added their ribbits and bellows to the music of the earth. Frogs are astonishing in their variety and are crucial to ecosystems from Chile to Borneo to Australia. This onomatopoeic text, accompanied by stunning illustrations, introduces young readers to these fascinating creatures.”
Links To Resources: the back of the book contains a bibliography of useful resources, a discussion of “frogs in trouble” (endangered frogs and the ecosystems they depend on), a list of online sources for frog facts, and a beautiful pictorial and informational two-page spread about frogs of the world.
Why I Like This Book: Usually I choose picture books for the story or the language. This one I chose first and foremost for the illustrations. They are absolutely beyond description – unbelievably gorgeous! But in addition, the text is poetic and beautiful, filled with fun onomatopoetic words that kids will enjoy chiming in with and repeating, and the book is full of interesting information about all kinds of frogs all over the world. A great choice for the budding herpetologist in your house or for a classroom or library.
Text copyright Brenda Z. Guiberson 2013, Illustration copyright Gennady Spirin 2013
I hope you like it as much as I do 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
You spent the summer doing WHAAAAT??? Not in my neighborhood. We city kids attached a string across the street between telephone poles and tried to get in some “beach” volleyball before a car had to drive through. We need these frog pictures more than anybody! 🙂
I was like you Susanna. Spent a lot of time at the creek trying to catch tadpoles and frogs then releasing them. Love catching lightening bugs at night. A different time.
Love your choice of books today. It’s such a beautifully illustrated book. Love to see books like this for children. Young ones will enjoy the sounds.
Thank you for another PPF. Love the illustrations in Frog Song. I need to check this book out.
Oh, great book to profile! I adore this family of illustrators’ work. Gennady’s son painted a mural in the Princeton Jct. library in memory of my step-father. I haven’t seen frogs this year and I wonder if it’s because of the number of snakes in my yard.
Love Frog Song! Also the idea of filling a wading pool with water – think I’ll head down to the dollah store and see if they have any wading pools. Not for kids – for ME! plus, lots of things end up in pool: insects, frogs…. Glad we’re doing PPBF one more week because I have some more books for next week.
You’ve sold me on “Frog Song,” gotgeous book in all areas!
Hope you catch up a tad, summer seems to fly for me… Enjoy the summer wonders, and thanks for all your rich Friday books!
WOW…yes…those illustrations are amazing…I thought it was photographs…only better!
I think we all need a break from the routine…although I’m sure many of us will be reading even more. Wishing you, Susanna, and all kid lit lovers, an awesome summer (although for some of you it will probably be winter).
I am definitely going to check out Frog Song! Thanks for the recommendation, Susanna! In Georgia, the tree frogs have started their nightly serenades.There is no sound that says, SUMMER more to me than those froggy symphonies!
Oh, I know! Isn’t it wonderful???!!! 🙂
I grew up in a small town and spent my summers mostly at the swimming pool. But every great once in a while I would find a frog in my yard and try to catch it! These illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!
I actually grew up in the city! But we spent weekends at my grandmother’s house where there was all manner of trouble to get into 🙂
Grebbit! Have a great weekend, Susanna!
Thanks, Catherine! You too! 🙂
This goes perfectly with my TAD AND DAD from last week. I used to love looking for frog spawn. These illustrations are gorgeous.
That’s true! What a perfect pairing! 🙂
Love the pick! This book looks amazing. Thanks for sharing! I’m going to add this to my non-fiction must have pile 🙂
It’s a beautiful one, Tracy! I hope you like it! 🙂
Hi Susanna, I have a frog pond nearby and I love listening to the frog chorus! Lovely book choice! Hope you have a wonderful summer with your family 🙂
We get peepers in the early spring, and some kind of deeper-voiced croakier frogs a little later, but most of our water doesn’t last all summer… so I don’t know where the frogs go! I hope you have a lovely summer too, Julie! I won’t be gone… just PPBF will be on hiatus. WYRI will run through July-ish, and maybe I’ll take August off from blogging… we’ll see 🙂
This looks like a beautiful book, Susanna! I’m pinning it so I don’t forget. I’m a big frog fan and use to have some sweet little African frogs.
Ooh, nice! Do African frogs come in pretty colors? This is a beautiful book – I hope you’ll get a chance to look at it!
My sisters and I loved catching frogs. Little tiny ones. We’d catch and release per Mom’s instructions: No frogs in the house! We would’ve loved having frogs in the house 🙂
The illustrations do look gorgeous. And I’m looking forward to reading due to your description of the text!
Great PPBF pick! 🙂 We go fishing in a pond with frogs, and Josie usually ends up trying (and usually succeeding) to catch them. 🙂