Frog Song by Brenda Z. Guiberson, Gennady Spirin, Hardcover

Reading Group Guide

ABOUT THE BOOK
A frog song is a celebration of enough clean water, plants, and insects to eat. Since the time of the dinosaurs, frogs have added their ribbits and bellows to the music of the earth. Frogs are astonishing in their variety and crucial to ecosystems. It is our job to keep our planet clean and fruitful so that frogs can continue to sing throughout the ages. Onomatopoeic text and stunning illustrations introduce young readers to these fascinating and important creatures, from Oklahoma to Chile to Australia.

USING FROG SONG WITH COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
Frog Song is appropriate for grades P to 3. The Standards included below are examples from the first grade standards; teachers may want to visit the Common Core State Standards Web site to apply their own gradelevel equivalents. The subheadings and numerical references will help users easily locate the coordinating standards for specific grade levels.

Reading Standards for Informational Text K–5
RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
RI.1.4 Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.
RI.1.10 With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.

Writing Standards K–5
W.1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Speaking and Listening Standards K–5
SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
SL.1.4 Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly

Pre-reading activities
Have students write or share what they already know about frogs. Have they ever seen a frog? Where did they see the frog? Did they touch the frog? What did it feel like or sound like?

Show a picture of two different types of frogs found in the book. Ask students to each write or share two characteristics they notice about the frogs. Then make a list together as a class. This will help heighten their awareness to similarities and differences throughout the book as they learn about all the types of frogs featured in the text.

Show a map of the world. Place a push pin where each frog in the book is from. Keep the map visible while reading the book and throughout the lesson.

VOCABULARY
Have students write and/or draw the definitions for the vocabulary words below:

Beech, bellow, bladder, bog, burrow, cocoon, crouch, dinosaur, emerges, flood, forest, freeze, frog, hatch, insect, mature, moisture, nest, snout, species, squirm, tadpole, thaw, trill

SCIENCE

Make It Real
If possible, visit a pond, zoo, or pet store to hear a song, see a hop, or observe eggs or tadpoles. Online sites listed at the back of the book lead to recorded frog songs and the discovery that frogs drink and breathe through their skin.

Make a Difference
Share the Author's Note about frogs being endangered. Have your students research how they can help frogs in their community. Check to see if your class can participate in a local zoo or museum program. How important is clean water and air to frogs with their special skin?

Be Creative
Make your very own classroom science book about frogs. Consider making this a small-group activity. There are eleven diff erent types of frogs in the book. Have each student/group select and research one type of frog mentioned in the book and write three sentences about it. They can pull information from the text, from the "Frogs of the World" pages, from their own observations of the pictures in the book, or do extended research in their school library. Then ask students to draw their own picture of the frog and its habitat. Ask your students what they imagine that frog would sound like. Have them select another onomatopoeic word to describe the sound they imagine.

Gather all the pages your students have created and read the book together as a class.

CULTURE / GEOGRAPHY

Create a worksheet with fi ve or six blank sections (see below).

There are frogs from eleven diff erent habitats around the world featured in Frog Song. Use this as an opportunity to teach students about those cultures. Reference the map with the push pins you made in the pre-reading activity.

Have students write the name of the frog for each location and the capital of that state, territory, or country. Then have students write a fact relating to population, art, music, history, etc. about each place.

1. Australian desert
2. Borneo
3. Canada
4. Chile
5. Costa Rica
6. Ecuador
7. Ethiopia
8. New Zealand
9. Northeastern Australia
10. Oklahoma, United States
11. Spain

FUN ACTIVITIES

Make a frog puppet!
1. Fold a piece of green paper in thirds, forming a long rectangle.
2. Fold the long rectangle into fourths, making a "W" shape. This "W" shape will be the frog.
3. Draw eyes on the frog (or glue on googly eyes).
4. Cut out a long tongue from red paper and glue the end of it in the frog's mouth.
5. Put your thumb in the frog's lower jaw, and put your other fingers in the upper jaw.
6. You now have a frog puppet that has a VERY big mouth!
Instructions from enchantedlearning.com

Write a song!
Have each student write two things that make them happy and then they can pick their top choice to share with the class. Write a classroom song together about what makes the kids happy. Maybe even add each student's name to the song for a personal touch. If you can put it to music and record it, even better! If your students made the frog puppets as well, your students can use the puppets while singing the song!

Leap like a frog!
After a nice long lesson about the frogs of the world, your kids deserve a break! Why not play leap frog? Have students line up on one side of the classroom and then have them leap to the other side of the classroom. And try to sneak in a lesson about how frogs leap! If you were able to record your class song, now is the perfect time to play it!

The New York Times - Pamela Paul

…the swampy creatures are described in their intricate, full-color realistic glory—warts and all. Gennady Spirin has four times been the recipient of a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books award, and his latest masterpiece of illustration is nothing less than a springtime reverie. Bursting with detail, especially in the opulent end pages, Spirin's tableaus of blooming lily pads, laden with flowers and frogs, resemble 17-century Dutch still lifes in their awed contemplation of the natural world. Textures snap to life—glistening, sticky eggs on a midwife toad; the loamy banks of a river; the terrifying fuzziness of a frog-eating tarantula.

Publishers Weekly

The team behind Life in the Boreal Forest focuses on a single animal: frogs. The magnificently gifted Spirin paints larger-than-life portraits of 11 frog species from every corner of the world, showing the texture of their skin and the gleam of their eyes in intricately worked, tapestry-like spreads. Many of the frogs have unique, even startling childbearing behaviors. In some species, males tend the developing frog eggs. The Darwin’s frog, from Chile, wins the prize for the strangest place to keep them: “They slither into his vocal sacs, where he keeps them safe and moist for 7 weeks. Then he gives a big yawn, and little froglets pop out.” The consciousness of the fragility of frogs and their dependence on clean air and water to survive is emphasized throughout. Guiberson speaks of frog voices as a beacon, a signal of the Earth’s continued health: “A frog song is a celebration of clean water, plants, and insects to eat. Chiroop. Pribble!” Back matter supplies additional information about frog species, resources, and threats. Spirin’s paintings make this a book to treasure. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

“*There is just enough information to interest older children who can read the book themselves, but the realistic pictures and fascinating facts can be shared one-on-one with younger children as well.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“*Guiberson speaks of frog voices as a beacon. . . . Spirin's paintings make this a book to treasure.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Another harmonious salute to the natural world by an accomplished pair.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The fascinating facts and impressive tempera, watercolor, and pencil illustrations make this a distinctive introduction to frogs.” —Booklist

“This nonfiction book shows why the boreal forest, home to a unique ecosystem of plants and animals, is as big and important as tropical rain forests.” —USA Today on Life in the Boreal Forest

“Gorgeously intricate illustrations perfectly complement equally evocative text in this introduction to the great northern, or boreal, forest, which sprawls across the entire northern hemisphere. . . . Guiberson and Spirin manage to successfully convey the beauty and majesty of this forest and its denizens in two dimensions, and a list of organizations devoted to preserving the forest provides further information. An author's note adds urgency to the message about the importance of preservation.” —Booklist, starred review on Life in the Boreal Forest

“Taking readers through the seasons, Guiberson and Spirin present a verbal and pictorial treasury for nature lovers and young researchers alike.” —School Library Journal on Life in the Boreal Forest

“Beautiful and useful.” —Kirkus Reviews on Life in the Boreal Forest

“Each of the stunning paintings in this catalog of the boreal forest, the great northern forest, is breathtakingly beautiful. They are in the style of Audubon and other great naturalist painters. They breathe life into the creatures, give texture to their fur and feathers and capture a sense of place.” —The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio on Life in the Boreal Forest

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

In the pages of this book, we travel to ecosystems around the world to listen to the different "songs" frogs and toads sing in their various environments. We learn about the strawberry poison dart frog of Costa Rica, the Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad of Oklahoma, the Surinam toad of Ecuador, the Scarlet-sided pobblebonk of Australia, the male midwife toad of Spain, the Darwin's frog of Chile, the shovel-nosed frog of Ethiopia, the four-lined tree frog of Borneo, the water-holding frog of the Australian desert, the Archey's frog of New Zealand, and the wood frog of Canada. From the front endpages on, it is evident that Spirin is master of his medium in his naturalistic renderings of frogs, toads, and the various plants and watery venues they call home. His tempera, pencil, and watercolor illustrations remind us of Renaissance art in their detail and imaginative design. The double-page scenes in this large book each comfortably contain four or five lines of informative text while presenting the complex varieties of aquatic life. Guiberson includes additional notes about each frog or toad, plus facts on frogs in trouble and sources for more information. Do not miss the contrasting jacket and cover. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

School Library Journal

K-Gr 4—Guiberson has carefully chosen and researched 11 varieties of frogs whose habitats are scattered across six continents. In the spare text, she provides a transliteration of each species' song and describes how its young are incubated and hatched. For example, the male Darwin's frog scoops his tadpoles into his mouth and-after seven weeks of incubation-spits out his little froglets. On a spread at the end, the author notes where each frog can be found, its size, and an interesting fact or two. Each of Spirin's exquisitely detailed, larger-than-life illustrations, created with tempera, watercolor, and pencil, provides a two-page close-up of a species in its native habitat, with a large, pale-hued area set aside to house the large-print text. There is just enough information to interest older children who can read the book themselves, but the realistic pictures and fascinating facts can be shared one-on-one with younger children as well. A thought-provoking author's note mentions species-endangering changes in the environment caused by pollution, global warming, and paving of natural pathways. "A frog song is a celebration of clean water, plants, and insects to eat," Guiberson cautions. A bibliography and list of outstanding informational websites are appended to this beautifully presented nature lesson.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

Kirkus Reviews

In this oversized album, 11 frogs from around the world exemplify the varied ways frogs find enough moisture to keep themselves and their eggs and tadpoles alive. "Frogs have a song" Guiberson reminds readers. From the "PSSST-PSSST" of the strawberry poison dart frog in the rain forest to the "BRACKBRACK!" of the wood frog in a bog, spread by spread she introduces readers to both songs and singers. Short paragraphs ring variations on the theme of frog life and reproduction. In Oklahoma, the Great Plains narrow-mouthed toad shares a damp burrow with a tarantula. The swamp-dwelling Surinam toad carries eggs under her skin. In a Chilean forest, Darwin's frog keeps his tadpoles in his vocal sacs. Spirin's detailed paintings, done with tempera, watercolor and pencil in a realistic palette of greens and browns, show frogs in their surroundings, blending in and yet standing out, poised to leap off the page. Finally, "A frog song is a celebration of clean water, plants, and insects to eat." This message is followed by two pages of fast facts about the species described in prose and illustrated with thumbnails--but, alas, there are no maps. There's also a reminder that frogs today are in trouble and a bibliography including both children's and adult books and websites. Another harmonious salute to the natural world by an accomplished pair. (Informational picture book. 4-9)

Frog Song

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Hardcover

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