news from the book nook: frogs and bogs

Exciting news: I heard the spring peepers (aka tiny frogs) recently! I literally stopped halfway in and out of the car in the Trader Joe's parking lot and exclaimed, "Listen! Hear that?" Poor hubster - he has to deal with his wife's strange antics on a daily basis... But seriously, this is a big deal! Every year I listen for the happy frog chorus usually coming from the swampy forest (yay, a rhyme!). Their voices are a sign of warm air, bright sunshine, mud, rain showers, and all other forms of spring happiness!

Note: If the prior paragraph makes absolutely no sense to you, please YouTube "spring peepers song." If you still don't get it, then please just consider it an odd characteristic of a zoologist's daughter and we'll move on...

To the real reason for this post: frogs, bogs, and pollywogs! No better way to celebrate the arrival of the peepers than taking one of these books along on a picnic. After a delicious lunch of tuna fish salad, hard boiled eggs, brownies, and lemonade (maybe this is only my childhood memory), begin the search for squirmy pollywogs and jumpy frogs! Fact: a day spent splashing and wading in gurgling creeks is good for the soul! Just remember to pack plenty of towels and a change of clothes!

A Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson and Joan Rankin
A repetitive, fun story about the squirmy delicacies a frog eats. Each page "the frog grows a little bit bigger" until the frogs finds out that the half-sunk log he's sitting on isn't a log at all....

Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan
It's an oldy, but a goody! A storytime favorite that will have the kids screaming JUMP, FROG, JUMP! with the turn of each page.

Jump! by Scott Fischer
Simple illustrations and text with a silly story line! Great for teaching simple rhyming sounds to preschoolers and kindergartners.

Too Many Frogs! by Ann Hassett
A fun way to introduce counting to a preschooler. An outrageous story about a woman who simply wants to bake a cake, but keeps getting interrupted by too many frogs. She listens to her neighbors' suggestions about how to get rid of the frogs, but they just keep multiplying!

The Wide-Mouthed Frog (A Pop-Up Book) by Keith Faulkner
Not just an awesome pop-up, but a great story! Sadly, if you are looking in libraries it might be difficult to find - pop-ups never fair well under intense circulation. Perhaps a great birthday gift instead!

In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
If you are looking for bright illustrations and simple text for a toddler, Denise Fleming's books are always a good option. The pond is full of critters that wiggle and waddle, splitter and splatter. Denise Fleming has a wonderful gift of introducing challenging vocabulary in an accessible format for the youngest kids.

Big Frog Can't Fit In: A pop-up book by Mo Willems
What children's book recommendation list would be complete without a book by everyone's favorite, Mo Willems?! A fun, silly book by arguable one of the best children's authors ever!

P.S. If you live in my general area Peace Valley Nature Center trails take you to prime frog, turtle, and crayfish territories!  My campers loved field trips here - much to explore and tons of rocks to overturn during the search for the elusive blue crayfish! But be warned: your car will smell like a swamp afterwards :)