A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog

A Boy, a Dog and a Frog #1

by Mercer Mayer

A boy and his dog go walking in the swamp.
They spot a frog in the water.
Can they use a net to catch him?

Mercer Mayer is considered one of the creators of the wordless picture book form. A Boy, a Dog and a Frog was his very first published book and the start of the successful series about the adventurous little boy and his curious animal friends. Since then Mayer has gone on to create the classic There's a Nightmare in My Closet, the wildly popular Little Critter series, and many more beloved books for children.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Dogs, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Mercer Mayer is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series of books.

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. It reminded me of when I was a little kid and my brother and I would catch frogs on our land. The author did a good job of making it easy to follow the illustrations, its very clear what's happening through the whole story. I also likes that all the illustrations are in black and white. The black and white kind of makes it seem like the little boy lives in a simpler time when kids took their dos down to the river to catch frogs instead of playing video games.

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

1967 book with no words, just pictures. Very cute pictures that tell a story of a boy going out to catch a frog. Nice ending that I don't want to give away.

Pictures would be great to ask the child to spur thinking. I always think we need to do more to encourage people to think instead of just accept all we are given. He is running to the frog, what could happen with the crooked log that is in his path? What could happen if the dog tries to grab the frog as the boy is swinging the net down to get the get the frog? I would go further, what kind of dog do you think that is? What do you think our dog would do in this situation? I think you all get the drift of why I really like books like this. Now if I can just get some grandchildren...

[Skylar Burris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a picture book that tells a cute, funny story without any words. I like it because it enables my daughter to practice telling her own stories and using her own vocabulary as she narrates the events to me. I also like it because she likes to "read" books to her "babies," but she's not old enough to actually read. She enjoys "reading" them this book. The pictures are well drawn and fun to look at.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are no words so it's a cute little book that your children can read to themselves.

Ages: 3 - 7

Cleanliness: a boy is shown in only underwear for one picture as he's about to jump into the river.

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mother Tongue Notes: Excellent resource for students forming their language skills. The illustrations are simple, funny, and expressive, and can draw out those who are shy about speaking.
Could also be used with students who need a push beyond basic writing skills into their own creative writing.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this simple wordless story with a humorous happy ending. Illustrations are wonderful

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading frog books for our unit study of frogs. We found some tadpoles on our nature hike at Pipes Canyon and brought some home to watch them grow into frogs. This has been an amazing experience already. Dad is totally into it. We are now looking into making a frog pond in a section of our rabbit and garden area in the backyard.

[Lynn Plourde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever, simple, wordless treasure. A boy tries hard to catch a frog in his net, but instead he nets his dog as the frog hops proudly away, until . . . The frog realizes he is lonely, and he hops to find the boy and dog in their tub!

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordless picture books are ideal for kids who have problems with delayed echolalia (scripting). To read the book aloud, you have to narrate what is happening in the pictures, and it is nearly impossible for an adult reader to accidentally do this the same way every time they read the book to the child. This variation in delivery helps kids who might otherwise memorize some specific wording to instead engage with the story.

A boy, a dog, and a frog is a sweet and simple story about a little boy and his dog who go down to a pond and try, quite unsuccessfully, to catch a frog. After some spectacular failures they retreat to the boy's home to take a bath. The frog discovers that it is actually bummed about this. It enjoyed playing cat and mouse with the boy and his dog, so it decides to follow them to the house and jumps into the tub for bathtime.

The illustrations are simple pencil drawings against a white background. The background imagery (the pond, the forest, the house) is consistently lighter. Mercer Mayer used more pressure to draw the three characters in each scene, which ensures that they stand out. It's a great series for a kid who is easily overwhelmed by visuals, but without defaulting into boring. The action is slapstick and the pace is quick.

First published in 1967, a boy, a dog, and a frog was the first in a highly successful and beloved series of wordless picture books about this boy and his animal friends.

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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books for kids who really love frogs and toads: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/frogs-...

[Erin VanDemark · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. n/a

2. K-2

3. A boy and his dog go to a lake to try and catch frogs. He is unsuccessful with his net in each attempt to catch the frog and eventually leaves the lake with his dog, leaving the pesky frog to be perched on a rock at the lake. The frog decides to follow the boy and his dog home and surprises them while the boy is taking a bath and hops right in to join them.

4. This is actually one of the first popular wordless stories and it is so successful because it is easy to follow along with. It is simple yet so wholesome and fun for any reader. It's funny to see that the frog even feels bad that the boy couldn't catch him but he follows him home anyways.

5. With any wordless story such as this one, teachers can encourage their students to narrate what is happening in each illustration and even write in lines that help tell the story. For instance, when it shows that the boy accidentally catches his dog in the net instead of the frog, students can write a simple sentence such as "The boy catches his dog in the net." Teachers can make an activity in which students are instructed to draw a picture that continues the story after the last illustration of the boy, the dog, and the frog in the bath together. For example, a student may draw a picture depicting the boy's mother coming in to find them all in the bath together.

[Ashley Theadore]

This is a wordless story book. This book is beneficial to build story telling skills in children of Piaget's later preoperational stage as the children can look at the picture and form a story from the images. This will increase curiosity and creativity, as they cannot rely on words to tell the story.

This type of book can also be used with children of the concrete operational stage. Children of this age are learning additional problem solving skills (McLaughlin, 2006, p. 95) and can be asked to come up with alternate stories or alternate endings to the story.

However, this book can also be beneficial with younger children who are building semantic skills through vocabulary. As the book is used with younger children, they can point and name objects that they see on each page. Asking open ended questions with these types of books is a great way to help expand on the vocabulary of preschool children.

[Grace Bolin · Rating 3 out of 5]

'A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog' would be appropriate to read with preschool age children through 2nd graders. A boy and his dog set out to go fishing and they see a frog they want to try to catch. The frog jumps around and they have a hard time catching him. In the end, they give up and head home, but the frog follows them home. The pictures in this book are detailed and tell the story well. It would not to good to read as a read aloud book. I would use this book to work with small groups and give each student their own copy so they can see the pictures' details. This could be used to talk about the importance of illustrations and how they can tell a story on their own or really add detail to a story with written words.

[Madeline Krasnasky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picture book had cute pictures and a cute plot of how a friendship came to be. I feel that this book could be open for discussion with children because since there are no words, the pictures can be interpreted by each child differently based on the schemas they draw with the illustrations. You can tell that this book is older just by looking at the usage of lines and color in the illustrations. There was not a lot of color in the book which may make is uninteresting for smaller children to engage with. Overall, this book was slightly disappointing because i love other Mercer Mayer books, but this book was not too exciting or interesting. Not a fan...

[Rosamaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was difficult to find awards this book has won. The wordless picture book makes this enjoyable to all grade levels. The story seems to be about a boy trying to catch a turtle but running into trouble. What I really enjoyed about this book is how many different stories can be made it. The pictures can be interpreted into one single story. Although children's imagination could create a different alternative. I would like to share this book with my class and have them create the story line to the pictures.

[Zowie Ponichtera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is adorable. The illustrations are not most perfectly detailed you can really see the emotion in the characters faces.This black and while penciled narrative tells a story of exactly what you would expect based off the titled, a boy, a dog and a frog. I would say this wordless book doesn't really teach any major life lessons but it is light-hearted and would be a fun read in the classroom.

[Keaton Rudolph]

A cute picture book that would really make whoever is reading it fall into the world it creates. A young boy tries to catch a frog in his net but ends up getting his dog caught up in the net instead. The frog at first is proud to get away but circles back to the boy and dog because he is lonely. That was a quick summary of the book, but this book is very creative and will really grab a Childs attention and maybe even spark a love for reading that could turn into novels.

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I was looking for. I've been trying to find a wordless picture book my little ones could narrate to me, and this one worked perfectly. They could tell me what was happening on every page with only a few leading questions from me.

A boy goes out to a pond with a net, a bucket and his dog. He tries to catch the frog but it keeps getting away. When the boy gives up and leaves, the frog is sad and follows him home.

[Miriam Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Boy, a Dog and a Frog is a wordless storybook with adorable illustrations. No points are lost because of the wordless factor. I think this is a great book for beginning readers, anyone can look at illustrations and make up their own version of the same story. The storyline is easy to follow. And the tone of the overall story is friendly.

[Mama Bearian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy and his dog head to the pond to go frog catching, but the frog that they find outsmarts them at every attempt. Finally, they give up and go home, leaving the frog all alone. But the frog is lonely, and follows them. It’s simple, with an old-fashioned feel to it.

Spoiler: At the end, the boy is in the bathtub with his dog and there is a bit of his backside showing in one illustration.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wordless book about the characters the title alludes to. The "friend" is no friend at first. When a turtle bites the boy's fishing line and then the boy's dog, the turtle seems to be a foe. But when the turtle seems to die, the boy, the dog, and the frog all feel sorry and prepare to bury him. The turtle revives somehow and everyone is happy.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little wordless story about a boy who tries to catch a frog. Missed opportunities eventually lead to frustration, and only the little frog knows how to fix things.
My copy from the library was an original from 1967 and was small and very worn. I would like to have a newer copy, especially if there was a bit of color in it. I think kids would enjoy it more.

[Nitoy Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice wordless book! At first the early part of the book is kind of dry to read (or to look at) but when you get to the middle part, there it gets interesting. The artwork feels like a blown up comic strip which every panel are placed on each page. Not that I'm complaining but the art and story works hand in glove. The stick around for the happy (and heartwarming) ending.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

no words

P loves this one. It was given to her as a gift and she loves to go through each page and talk about it. I love books with no words. As long as they have a good story. :-) And this one does. It's not so much a narrative as a moment in time, caught to remember.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I think every little boy who has a dog should own this book. There's no words, it's pictures only which makes it so special. They can form their own story in words as they go through the pages as the little boy, with the dog, trying to catch that sneaky little frog!

[Sandra Winans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great wordless picture book about a boy, a dog and a frog. The illustrations are simple but realistic. If you have an young energetic, outdoorsman child, they will enjoy telling their version of the story as you read this book with them.

[Elizabeth Braun]

grade - kindergarten t0 2nd
summary - a boy and his dog go on a walk and find a frog
review - i like that even without words, readers can understand the storyline
use in class - students can make their own picture books

[Makaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy takes his two pets to the park. While the boy is busy chasing his dog, the frog takes the opportunity to hop out of its basket and explore. Its first adventure is a ride in a toy truck that's being pulled by a little girl. For the rest of the program, the boy and dog hunt for the frog.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a delightful wordless story told through fabulous illustrations. A little boy and his dog head to the pond to capture a frog. When they see one sitting on a lily pad, their attempts to catch it end up being quite hilarious. This is a fun story with a satisfying ending. Wonderful.

[Lisa Macklem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. Short and sweet - with a happy ending!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wordless.