Ribbit Rhapsody

One of the sweetest, neatest sounds and a sure sign winter is leaving, is stepping out for a final walk before bed to hear a chorus of spring peepers; the silence of the night filled with their distinctive notes. Many a summer my gardens have been home for toads large and small, gobbling up insects.  Last year a tree toad set up residence on the box for my decorative lights right outside my front door.  Napping during the day would give him the energy to climb my siding in the evening using his gripper toes.

Dinosaurs may have vanished but frogs remained adapting to the conditions found in various parts of the world they call home.  In Frog Song (Henry Holt and Company, February, 2013), written by Brenda Z. Guiberson with illustrations by Gennady Spirin, readers visit six of the seven continents as introductions to eleven distinctive frogs (and toads) are made.  While differences and similarities are a focus all are tied together by a common thread.

A frog song 

is a celebration

of clean water, plants,

and insects to eat.

As long as the music of frogs is being made all is well in their respective habitats.  Like the instruments in an orchestra each contributes a specific sound to the overall symphonic world score.  Rain forest tree tops, spider holes, muddy swamps, beech forests, dried pond beds, deserts and waterfalls will resonate with their cheerful chatter.

From the strawberry poison dart frog in Costa Rica who carries each of her five tadpoles to a separate pool of water high in the trees to the Great Plains narrow-mouth toad found in Oklahoma who lives in a tarantula hole freeing it of insects to the Surinam toad living in Ecuador who carries one hundred eggs under her skin until they hatch or to Ethiopia where we find the shovel-nosed frog who digs a place for her eggs until the floods come, we are informed of parenthood rituals.  For some it's the male who provides the protection and care; in Spain the male midwife toad carries the eggs in a string on his back until the tadpoles start to squiggle or in Chile the Darwin's frog places about thirty tadpoles inside his vocal sacs for seven weeks until they hop from his open mouth. Whether it's a psst-psst, buzzbuzzbuzz, click-clack, bonk...bonk...bonk or tinktinktinktink, each tune signifies a particular presence to a careful listener. 

For each of the eleven frogs Brenda Z. Guiberson has penned a paragraph embedded with facts.  Use of alliteration, onomatopoeia and descriptive verbs serve to deliver the well-researched details of their songs and young; trills, belt out, rattles or bellows.  Readers are immediately taken to a geographic setting as Guiberson begins each section with In...

Upon opening the jacket the strawberry poison dart frog on the front is extended to the back to complete a stunning portrayal.  The cover, front and back, is a completely different, equally impressive illustration featuring an enormous bellied frog with others among lilies, pads and reeds.  Identical opening and closing endpapers are a gorgeous display of flora fit for the frog inhabitants.

Using tempra, watercolor, and pencil on arches watercolor paper Gennady Spirin works his magic creating masterful, intricate two-page spreads for each frog; the narrative carefully inserted into the design.  Lush, realistic settings including appropriate flora and fauna surround the close-up of the showcased amphibians.  The title page, verso, dedication, Frogs in Trouble (author's note), Bibliography and Frog Facts Online are framed with delicate plants and the same frogs seen in the endpapers.


Reading Frog Song written by Brenda Z. Guiberson with illustrations by Gennady Spirin aloud is as much a joy for one's ears as seeing the pictures is a delight for one's eyes; combining the two sends this piece of nonfiction soaring to greatness.  For more information about the author and illustrator follow the links embedded in their names leading to their official websites.  This link is to the publisher website highlighting eight pictures from the title.  Be sure to watch them full screen.  For a four page teacher's guide follow this link.

Again...Again...Repeatedly

A book is a gift you can open again and again.

Garrison Keillor

What is it that makes us return to our favorite picture book titles?  Do we go back, even though we know exactly what is going to happen, because the story, the beginning, the middle and the end, is in perfect alignment.  Could it be the words, the narrative, the dialogue, create a kind of song in our minds, painting a picture even without the illustrations?  Or might another visit be due to the stellar artwork, the fresh color palette, intriguing layout and design?

I believe it to be when the combination of all of these is so striking, that not only is the book memorable, but you as a reader sense a kind of magic, a cosmic connection.  When I first lifted the cover of Open This Little Book (Chronicle Books) by Jesse Klausmeier with illustrations by Suzy Lee I had no idea what to expect. (I rarely consult the jacket flaps until after I read the book.)  Within a few seconds I began to feel a pull, a pull taking me right into the center of the book.


Open this...

Those first two little words offer much.  It seems so often when growing up we hear the opposite.  "Stop!" "Don't open that!"  This phrase is different; freeing, warm and inviting.  So we do as it requests.

In the Little Red Book, the Little Green Book, the Little Orange Book, the Little Yellow Book, the Little Blue Book and the Little Rainbow Book readers are introduced to Ladybug, Frog, Rabbit, Bear and Giant.  Each character is reading a book about the next as the volumes, inset in one another, continually get smaller.  As we move from book to book the characters move into the next title until a problem arises.

The pages of the smallest book cannot be turned by the hand of Giant.  But what are friends for? A book is began and finished with the story within read; to each character's individual and personal joy.

As first the Little Rainbow Book, followed by the others, is closed Giant, Bear, Rabbit, Frog and Ladybug return to their original settings.  When readers turn a page and read:

You close this little red book...

they, like the characters, are transported to a place where a passion can be pursued in the company of like-minded beings.  Read.  Read again.  Share. Read another. This is a timeless, treasured circle with no end.


According to an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Jesse Klausmeier first conceived this book when she was five years old.  There is a child-like wonder in the simple sentences linked together; a curiosity about what will happen next to whom.  When she chooses story, the reading of a story, to bind these characters together in friendship, the repetition of the words creates a spiral circling outward to surround you.  You, the reader, become a participant in the tale.


Every single time I read this book I discover something new in the illustrations.  Suzy Lee's interpretation is meticulous; right down to the tiniest amazing detail.  Using pencil and watercolor with digital manipulation she begins on the jacket and cover; a lofty view of a tree trunk on the left whose branches stretch as shelves providing space for books and readers alike. Her opening endpapers are rows of tiny gray raindrops on a soft creamy white background switching to a variety of colors, like a rainbow, on the closing endpapers.

Initially Lee opens using a limited palette, black, white and red with a hint of green.  As each little book is opened small spots of the other colors are added.  As the characters return home the use of color increases plus careful readers will see not only the gift of color but the gift of something else bestowed upon each. The pure happiness exhibited by Lee's Ladybug, Frog, Rabbit, Bear and yes, even Giant in each setting is marvelous to behold.


I've lost count of the number of times I've read Open This Little Book by Jesse Klausmeier with illustrations by Suzy Lee.  What I do remember is my excitement building at each page turn.  When I finish I know I am grinning from ear to ear wanting to shout from the rooftops "I love this book!"

Please follow the links embedded in this post to visit the official author and illustrator websites.  Suzy Lee did an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast linked here.

I went right to my bookshelves and pulled off copies of Look At My Book: How Kids Can Write & Illustrate Terrific Books by Loreen Leedy, Making Mini-Books by Sherri Haab (Klutz) and The Elements of Pop-Up by David A. Carter and James Diaz because this title is guaranteed to inspire creativity.  You might also want to visit the web 2.0 application, Zooburst, to make virtual books.  It was an American Library Association 2011 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.

Ribbiting Reads

At one of the local independent bookstores in my area, McLean & Eakin Booksellers of Petoskey, there are special shelves for the pop-up, movable parts, books.  Although they don't survive many circulations in a library media center, I do add titles to my personal collection at home whenever I can; bringing them to school to incorporate them into a unit or storytime because they are fascinating to all.  It was with delight when several weeks ago I spotted one written by Mo Willems.

It's no news to people who follow this blog but I am a huge Mo Willems fan. I have written reviews here about City Dog, Country Frog, We are In A Book!, Knuffle Bunny Free: an unexpected diversion, and Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator.  How I missed Big Frog Can't Fit In: a pop-out book by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books For Children, 2009) is a mystery to me.

When the cover is opened this huge frog springs out extending beyond the pages, arms and legs outstretched. A single tab pulls to move her eyelids and tongue.

POOR BIG FROG.
SHE CAN'T FIT IN THIS BOOK.

She dreams of being littler with shorter legs or more nimble, double-jointed?  She finally plops down arms crossed, long legs, bent and stretched, as tears slide down her froggy cheeks.    But frog has friends (you know who) and they have a plan.

In all shapes and sizes, with looks and gestures as singular as each of them, sixteen green pals of the pond (plus one) pop up.  Ladders, brooms and one big idea are just what their over-sized friend needs. One size does not fit all. 

With the assistance of paper engineer, Bruce Foster, Mo Willems has written and illustrated a very durable book able to handle multiple readings by the littlest of hands.  A little over nine by nine inches square in bright colors of orange, light blues, red, purple and taupe, yellow and lots of green, readers feel a kinship with the frog and her larger-than-life proportions.  Facial expressions and movements of the adaptable amphibians are very "hoppy" with a high fun factor.

Big Frog Can't Fit In: a pop out book by Mo Willems presents an approach to being different, how friends who accept a difference will make changes so you don't feel so bad, with delightful reveals.  This book also prompted me to think about how else it could be used with children other than for pure enjoyment.  I thought about other similar books about being bigger, frog books and books about making pop-up books.

So I gathered books from my own personal shelves and walked out of my public library with a stack last Saturday.  I put everything together in a Prezi.  Enjoy.

Big Frog Can't Fit In on Prezi