May 13 – National Jumping Frog Day

Happy Jumping Frog Day!

How could anyone think of Jumping Frog Day and not think of Arnold Lobel’s Caldacott Honor winner (1971) Frog and Toad are Friends? Impossible right? This was the first of Lobel’s Frog and Toad series of four. All of which are actually early readers more so than picture books. But I’m sure you’ll forgive my inclusion of these two lovable characters.

Speaking of lovable characters, how about Froggie? He’s a rascal created by author Jonathan London and illustrator Frank Remkiewicz. There are 28 books in the Froggie series to date, my favorite is Froggie Learns to Swim.

Frog Went a-Courtin’ by John Langstaff and illustrated byFeodor Rojankovsky is a retelling of an old nursery rhyme ballad. It won the Caldecott in 1956.

Jump, Frog, Jump! written by Robert Kalan and illustrated by Byron Barton (1989) is an easy cumulative, repetitive story that has young readers ready to shout “Jump Frog Jump” on each page.

One Frog Too Many by Mercer and Marianna Mayer is one of a series of three wordless picture books about a boy, a dog, and a frog. Readers can follow the pictures and fill in the story for themselves as they turn each page.