Frogs and Toads

Frogs and Toads

Frogs are cute, slimy, little, green guys. Not only that, but they make a great lesson for children. There is a lot of information available on frogs. I was inspired for this topic from the class in which I was observing. They were doing a frog and toads unit and I loved it. I could not believe how many books that there were on frogs. The books and information that I found are aimed at second or third grade, but can be used for other grades as well. Kermit the Frog and I hope that you love this web site all about frogs.

Picture Books

Bancroft, Catherine and illustrated by Hannah Coale Guenberg. Felix’s Hat. New York: Four Winds Press, 1993.

Felix the frog has a favorite orange hat that he is always losing. One day while at the beach, he loses his hat for good. He is very upset and all of his family tries to make him feel better. Finally his mom tells him that now someone is saying thank you Felix for the wonderful hat that I can sleep in to keep me warm. His brother gives Felix his old red hat and Felix then feels better and has a new favorite hat.

Bauer, Marion Dane. Frogs Best Friend. Holiday House Inc, 2002.

Frog and turtle are best friends. Frog loves to be with turtle and they are the only two awake. Finally the other animals come out of hibernation. Frog does not want to share turtle with the others. He becomes jealous, but then he sees that it is okay to have other friends. Illustrated by Diane Dawson Hearn.

Gordon, Margaret. Frogs Holiday. New York: Viking Kestrel, 1986.

All of the frogs in the pond think there are too many big fish and too many small boys. They set out to find the perfect place for a holiday. They decide that it is at a laundry mat. A woman who also needs a holiday owns it. They become friends and help each other.

Haas, Irene. Summertime Song. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc, 1997.

Lucy is a little girl in the story. One night a frog hops into Lucy’s window into her room with a hat. The frog invites Lucy to a nocturnal party with his friends in the forest. Lucy puts the hat on and shrinks to the size of a small leaf. She meets many tiny creatures and has a wonderful journey.

Wiesner, David. Tuesday. New York: Clarion Books, 1991.

This is a book of only pictures. It is a fun book for any age. Frogs are flying through a town on Lilly pads. Each person will have a different explanation for the story. The pictures are wonderful and very easy to follow.

Folktales/ Fairy Tales

Franco, Betsy. Why the Frog has Big Eyes. New York: Green Light Readers, 2000.

Frog challenges everyone to a staring contest and he always wins. Not only does he always win, but he always brags about being the winner. Finally he has a staring contest with the fish. Frog tries to keep from blinking and then his eyes get very big. He finally blinks, but his eyes stay big. The frog lost and never bragged again. Illustrations are by Joung Un Kim.

Galdone, Paul. The Frog Prince. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1975.

This story is the classic fairy tale of the frog prince. The princess loses her gold ball in a well and a frog appears and tells her that he can get it if she makes a promise with him. She promises the frog that she will be his companion and open up her doors to him. She holds to her promise and then the frog becomes a prince.

frogsinger

Goss, Linda and illustrated by Cynthia Jabar. The Frog who Wanted to be a Singer. New York: Orchard Books, 1996.

This book is a picture book of an African American storytelling. A frog is frustrated because he wants to be a singer, but no one thinks that a frog can sing. Finally he is given a chance to sing and he proves to everyone that although his music is different it is still really good music. He has a new kind of singing and this is the birth of rhythm and blues and the boogie woogie singing.

Gwyne, Fred. Pondlarker. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1990.

This is a story about a frog who dreams of becoming a prince. He thinks that being a frog is boring even though his father tells him to be proud to be a frog. Pondlarker seeks out a princess to kiss him. He gets to his princess and realizes that there is nothing wrong with being a frog. From that day on he is proud to be a frog just like his father had told him.

Isele, Elizabeth. The Frog Princess. New York: Thomas Y Cromwell, 1984.

In this story, the Czar’s sons are ready to get married and to find a bride they shoot arrows into the air. The woman that brings back each of the men’s arrows will be his bride. A frog picks up one of the arrows that have landed in a pond. The brothers laugh at the thought of a frog being on of the son’s bride. However, the frog then turns into a beautiful princess.

bigfrogaustr

Roth, Susan L. The Biggest Frog in Australia. New York: Simon and Schoster, 1996.

This Australian folktale is very funny. The biggest frog drinks up all of the water in Australia and everyone else is in need of water. The wise old wombat decides that he has to make the frog laugh so that he spits out all of the water that he drank. It is a very funny book with great illustrations that are paper collages.

Poetry/ Rhyming

Florian, Douglas. Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs. New York: Harcourt Inc, 2001.

This is a book of poems and wonderful paintings all about different kinds of reptiles. Some poems include, The Wood Frog, The Bullfrog, The Glass Frog, and others. The poems are written in different formats and styles and give information about the reptile that it is about. I chose this book of poetry because the poems are very short while also being very informational.

fibefrog

Newman, Al. Fibber E. Frog. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1993.

This is a very easy to read book that rhymes the whole way through. Fibber E. Frog tells a lot of tall tales. He tells these false stories to make himself look good. With the help of his friends he learned not to say a fibbit, but ribbit.

frogsredsuspender

Prelutsky, Jack. The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders. Greenwillow Books, 2002.

This book contains poems about animals and places. The pictures are beautiful and also funny. The first poem is, The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders and it is a very funny poem.

Novels/ Chapter Books

Erickson, Russell E. A Toad for Tuesday. New York: Lothrope, Lee and Shepard Co, 1974.

Warton the toad wants to go visit his Aunt Toolia. He goes out in the winter and has a very exciting and dangerous journey on the way. This story would be great as a read aloud or as a novel for more advanced readers in the second or third grade.

daysfrogtoad

Lobel, Arnold. Days with Frog and Toad. New York: Harper Collins, 1979.

This is another one of the Frog and Toad series. Frog and Toad are off on even more adventures. Stories that are in this book are: Tomorrow, The Kite, Shivers, The Hat, and Alone. Each story is a separate chapter and it is an easy reader chapter book.

Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad are Friends. New York: Harper Collins, 1970.

This is one of the books in the Frog and Toad series. It is a chapter book composed of individual stories of the adventures of Frog and Toad. Selected stories include: Spring, The Story, A Lost Button, A Swim, and The Letter. All of them are stories about the friendship between Frog and Toad.

princeofpond

Napoli, Donna Jo. The Prince of the Pond. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 1992.

In this novel, an old witch puts a curse on the prince and turns him into a frog. He does not know how to live as a frog and is very scared. He is saved by a female frog that shows him how to live as a frog. They become friends and learn from each other. This is a great novel about both frogs and friendship.

commandertoadspace

Yolen, Jane. Commander Toad in Space. New York: Putnam and Grosset Group, 1980.

This is the first of the Commander Toad series. It is an easy reader novel. Follow Commander Toad through outer space and read about his exciting journey. Children will love the funny pictures and the great story.

commandertoadhome

Yolen, Jane. Commander Toad and the Voyage Home. New York: Putnam and Grosset Group, 1998.

This is another one of the stories from the Commander Toad series. In this novel Commander Toad is going home and will have an adventure on land. The pictures are great and the story is full of laughs.

Collections

Springer, Nancy. Ribbiting Tales. New York: Philomel Books, 2000.

This book is a collection of stories from different authors. All of the stories are about frogs. Some stories are, A Boy and His Frog, Green Plague, Polliwog, and more. The stories are illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi and are great read aloud stories.

Griffith, Helen V. Emily and the Enchanted Frog. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1989.

This is a collection of stories about a girl named Emily. The first of the three stories is called, Emily and the Enchanted Frog. Emily turns a frog into a prince, but he does not want to be a prince. He wants to be a frog. Emily finds the girl frog and turns her into a princess. She does not want to be a princess but instead a frog. The prince and the princess kiss and become frogs again.

Informational Books

Everts, Tammy and Bobbie Kalman. Frogs and Toads. New York: Crabtree Publishing Co., 1994.

This book is all about frogs and toads and has sections including: In and Out of Water, What is a Frog?, What is a Toad?, Frog and Toad Homes, Yummy Frog Food, The Cycle of Life, Ribbit! Ribbit!, Big Bulging Eyes, and more. It includes real photographs and is very informative. The words are easy enough for first or second grades.

Merrick, Patrick. Toads. The Child’s World Inc, 1999.

This book is all about Toads. It has chapters all about the life of a frog. It also compares frogs to toads and is very informative. The book contains real photographs that go along with the text. It is at a basic level for reading.

Biography

George, Jean Craighead. The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

This is an autobiography of Jean Craighead George. She talks about all of the pets that she brought into her home to take care of. It was from these pets that she had the inspiration for many of her books. One of her many pets was a frog named Rana. Rana would go around the house eating all of the insects that were let into the house from the night. He was her frog prince.

coolmelons

Gollub, Matthew. Cool Melons Turn to Frogs. New York: Lee and Low Books, 1998.

This is the story of a man named Issa. He was the inventor of the Haiku style of poetry. Frogs referred to in this book to describe his life. The colors are beautiful and the poems are interesting.

Pierre, Stephanie St. Story of Jim Henson. Batnam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1991.

This is the biography of Jim Henson who is the creator of the Muppets. One of these such Muppets is Kermit the frog. He is an important frog figure to children and I thought that this book would be interesting to the topic.

Professional Journals

Flagg, Ann. It's a Frog's Life. Instructor (1999). Vol 7: p34-38.

In this journal article there are great ideas for teaching a frog unit. Mainly based on the life cycle of a frog. It is very interesting and contains great ideas.

Ramos, Rebekah. The Case of the Disappearing Frogs. Technology and Learning (2000). Vol 21: p13-14.

Children use the internet to solve a mystery of the missing frogs. By clicking on the name of the journal article, it will bring you to the web site for the activity. It is hands on and looks like a lot of fun.

Web Sites

www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/frog.shtml
This web site includes quizzes, crafts, rhymes and more all about frogs.

allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml
This is a great web site. It is frog land and there are many many things to do here all about frogs. there are resources, games, information and more.

www.atozteacherstuff.com/themes/frogs.shtml
This site is from A to Z teacher stuff. There are lesson plans and units for all grades all about frogs.

www.seagrant.wisc.edu/frogs/
This site is full of great information. There are instructions on how to make an origami frog, cool science facts, fact and fiction on frogs, quizzes, the life cycle of a frog, and much more. It is by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant.

teachers.net/lessons.posts/1027.html
This wes site is called Frogs and Toads are Different But Still Friends. It is based on Arnold Lobel's book and has many great ideas for lessons.

By: Kelley Whitney
December 13, 2002