Parents' Guide to

Frog and Toad All Year

By Mary Dixon Weidler, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Excellent beginning reader for kids.

Book Arnold Lobel For Beginning Readers 1976
Frog and Toad All Year Poster Image

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age 5+

Based on 1 parent review

nicemom13
nicemom13 Parent of 3 and 7-year-old
August 29, 2009
age 5+

good book

It's great for learning about the seasons. It's so funny!

This title has:

Educational value
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Seasons change, but friendship doesn't, as Toad and Frog prove in five stories. Be it a simple walk by the river, an exciting sleigh ride, or the magic of Christmas Eve, everything is better when shared with a special friend.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This is another excellent beginning reader by Arnold Lobel, whose characters personify the values -- respect, caring, humor -- that all friends should share. In five well-told stories (accompanied by his trademark swamp-brown and moss-green sketches), Lobel takes his readers through a year of adventures that are not only instantly identifiable but also heartwarming and inspiring.

Kids will enjoy the vocabulary, which is easy to read but not overly simple. They can relate to the amphibious characters' human qualities. Sometimes Frog and Toad try to do the right thing (such as when Toad buys ice-cream cones for Frog and himself to counteract the heat of a summer day) and their good intentions turn out all wrong (the chocolate ice cream melts all over Toad, who then, looking like an "ice-cream monster," scares the forest creatures -- including Frog).

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Frog and Toad's friendship. In what ways do they try to help each other? How do they react when things don't quite turn out as they'd hoped?

Book Details

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