Being Green: Being Frog by April Pulley Sayre

A FROG IS A BEING.

WATCHING,

SEEING.

Most modern kids know frogs more as story book and television characters than as actual animals in the environment. Who doesn't love Frog and Toad and the Frog Prince and Kermit the Frog to remind us "It's not easy being green!"

But in her just published Being Frog (Beach Lane Books, 2020), notable nature science writer April Sayre helps young readers see real frogs, even individual actual frogs, as beings existing in the same world with us. Sayre carefully include the facts about frogs and does it with humor and insight.

FIRST EGG,
THEN TADPOLE.
TWO LEGS. FOUR.

A TINY FROGLET
CLIMBS ASHORE.

Her frogs behave like frogs. They sit still and say GLUNK, quietly waiting for food to come by, leaping high to catch it when it does. They crawl as well as hop, as they wander away from water, hunting for something to eat and looking for each other. They swim beneath the water and hide among plants, their big eyes above water, always on the lookout for friend, foe, or food. They have favorite places--a rock, a log, a flowering plant--where they hang out daily.

But author Sayre also wonders about frogs. She observes the frogs near her and observes that they learn to recognize her without fear, even to ignore her daily visits. Do frogs wonder about us? Do they have memories and feelings?

ITS EYEBALLS GAZE.

DOES IT REMEMBER

TADPOLE DAYS?

April Pulley's latest nature study book is beautifully done, with large, full-page close-up photos of her frog friend Lemon (named for his bright yellow chest, characteristic of male green frogs) and his frog friends in the pond near her home. Written in easy-going poetry and with an insightful Author's Note appended that describes how the book came to be, this nature science book for young readers quietly has a lot to say about being a being, even a frog, in our world. Also appended is a brief bibliography for further investigations of frogs and other amphibians.

Pair this one with an funny and informative picture book on frog life cycles by Susan Hood, with comical illustrations by Caldecott Award artist Matthew Cordell, Leaps and Bounce (read my review here).