This summer we put in a long awaited patio between the back of the house and the garden. When it was finished, my husband declared he wanted a hot tub and I declared that I wanted a frog pond. I bought a how-to book, read it, ordered a liner and started to dig. I am pleased that I did most of the digging myself. It is about 5 feet by 3 feet and 2-3 feet deep. Chris did help with some final digging and he helped me line it and add rocks around the edges. Then I waited. Everyone said, “If you build it, they will come.” How, when and from where? filled my thoughts. Sure enough, less than three weeks later, I saw a green frog!
So, when I noticed the very colorful cover of A Day in the Life- Frogs: What do Frogs, Toads, and Tadpoles Get Up to All Day? By Itzue W. Caviedes Solis and illustrated by Henry Rancourt (Neon Squid, 2023), I had to bring it home. Maybe I’d find my answers.
Frogs is a wonderful book full of awesome facts that depict the incredible diversity of frogs. The writing is engaging and covers movement, parenting (there are a lot of single-parent dad frogs out there), various habitats and behaviors for attracting mates or avoiding predators. Much I had already heard about like the mother whose eggs develop inside her skin where the male put them, and which metamorphosis inside her skin and emerge as froglets and hop away. But some information was new like the male Darwin’s frog who carries his tadpoles in his mouth until they develop into frogs and hop away. I’m glad I am a mammal!
Overall, I would recommend this book for young readers from mid through upper elementary because it is engaging and full of surprising facts about frogs. But I was disappointed that the only North American species mentioned was the Pacific tailed from Canada. What about our very own green frog? I know a lot about Lithobates clamitans and they have a wide distribution in the eastern North America. But alas that enticing subtitle “what do frogs get up to all day?” was not answered for me. Maybe that’s ok. The mystery is what compels me to sit and watch and contemplate them on summer evenings. And I get to fall asleep to their calls.
First image: a pickeral frog found in the garden near the pond.
Third image: between the plant stems you can see the head and partial body of a green frog sticking out of the water.
PS: Yes, my husband got his hot tub too!
Lisa Connors 