The Frog (by Sally Tagholm)

One of the Animals Lives series, this title introduces readers to the fundamentals of frog life. Children will be fascinated by hatching tadpoles, the development into froglets, and the list of predators frogs must avoid. Although this is a nonfiction book, it is so engaging that it seems, at times, like a story.

The illustrations are warm and inviting and show many details, including the splotches of darker brown color and the small bumps on an adult frog's body. One illustration shows the frog's "long, sticky tongue" frozen in motion, just as it has caught a fly. But the first of two pages discussing a frog's croak shows the male with a very small bulge in his throat. Children will be disappointed not to see the full-blown puff.