Frog in the House

by David Mather, Stephanie Mirocha (Illustrator)

What child hasn't longed to bring a wild creature into the family home and keep it as a pet? This book helps children understand why that's not a good idea. The story tells of a treefrog living happily in the plants on a family's porch. Told from the frog's perspective, it portrays his discomfort when he is mistakenly brought inside in the fall. In the happy ending, the frog is returned to the outdoors where he can hibernate, and the child in the family is looking forward to listening for the frog's song in the spring. Charming illustrations contrast the frog's natural habitat with his indoor plight, creating empathy with the frog. A science page at the end explains the life cycle of amphibians and contains some little-know facts about treefrogs.

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Cass · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhh...I don't know. I wanted to find beauty in the illustrations but they were just creepy! And the narrative nature of this non-fiction walks a fine line but I think completely misses its mark. At times I was confused on what I was learning and what was narrative. I wouldn't recommend, except for very specific reasons.

[Taylor Hahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book that teaches children how to interact with wild tree frogs. The illustrations are gorgeous and provide a great addition to a fun story.

[Mymcbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review: A man made a little pond in his yard for a tree frog but one thing he didn’t know is that a tree frog love to climb trees and live in the brushes. The tree frog hopped and climbed unto a tree but this tree wasn’t growing in the ground but in a pot on a porch. The tree frog was climbed it because it was hungry. Then he saw a woman and a girl watering the plant, they keep the plant nice and damp. He liked the strange plants because there was a lot to eat. Then he notices that the woman was carrying the plants inside the house. Life in the house was strange; he no longer could hear the other frogs or birds singing and the he was hungry as there were fewer bugs. The tree frog needed to be outside to hibernate.

Like some wild animals, tree frogs don’t make good pets. A great artwork by the illustrator Stephanie Mirocha which helps tells the story. The last page gives facts about the tree frogs.







FTC Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion in any way.