Frog and Toad are Friends

Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad Are Friends is a Caldecott Honor Book that provides a fanciful look at the relationship between two amphibians. The book, which is geared towards very young readers (who are branching out beyond the 32-page picture book format), includes five stories about the upbeat

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Frog and his depressive friend Toad; over the course of these five stories, the two amphibians look for buttons, go swimming, and (most importantly) bond by the pond. The two characters serve as interesting charater foils: to use Winnie-the-Pooh as a reference point, just imagine Tigger and Eeyore going on adventures together.

The fantasy elements of the story are obvious: Frog and Toad are anthropomorphic creatures who live in little houses and who wear miniature variations of men’s fashion. Because the book is aimed at younger readers, Frog and Toad retain childlike personalities and qualities that make them believable and relatable for younger readers. The stories do maintain a consistency in Lobel’s narrative framework, although I find it curious that Frog and Toad are the only characters in the forest who wear clothing: are amphibians simply more modest/self-conscious in appearance than other woodland creatures…?

The best word to describe this book is “cute:” the two main characters illustrate friendship and compassion over the course of the book, and Lobel presents these five stories in very accessible, “kid-friendly” language. While A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh may be more sophisticated and clever, Lobel’s book is still an endearing testament to the power of friendship.

[On an unrelated side-note: Frog bears a striking resemblance to Kermit the Frog, which makes me wonder whether or not Jim Henson was inspired by Lobel’s book. Does anyone know for certain…?]

Citation:
Lobel, Arnold. Frog and Toad Are Friends. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Print.

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This was my main Frog and Toad as a kid, and rereading it now it's a bit more plodding than Frog and Toad Together, the one with the tandem bike on the front that is my son's main Frog and Toad, and doesn't really get into Lobel's light surreal touches and winks at the grups that are a later

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trademark, but I was the kind of slightly plodding toddler that loved saying things like "all cozy!" so, you know, plenty of time for surrealism DOWN THE LINE.

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This represents a fantasy because it uses characters that are make--believe and would not be possible in real life. Frog and Toad's adventure could be possible if they weren't a frog and a toad; therefore the story holds a small bit of truth which helps it be a fantasy. Toad is a round character

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because we continually find out more about him and the way he lives throughout the chapter book. Toad is revealed through his interactions with Frog, his actions, his appearance, and the narrator. This book would be best for the Primary and Intermediate levels.

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A gentle tale of true friendship. The book is also humorous and fun.

M had this for home reading. I love that this story is about friendships. They are such an important part of a beginner-reader's world.

A wonderful, easy to read story of friendship. A timeless classic. Great humor and just right for beginning readers.

This is a poor example of fantasy because there are not forces of good and evil and there is no magic, but the story could not happen in the real world. Frog is a round character because he is well developed and changes throughout the story.

Frog and Toad have little adventures and mistakes, but everything always ends up okay because of their true friendship with each other.

This is another heart warming book about the relationship between Frog and Toad. They have wonderful interactions that all readers can relate to, which makes these books accessible to young readers and older readers alike.

This is an example of fantasy because a frog and a toad are talking and interacting with each other and other animals, but they are dealing with real life situations and experiences, such as expressing emotions, including embarrassment over a swimsuit and sadness over not receiving mail, losing

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possessions, and feeling sick.
These stories are too short to otherwise critique the plot, setting, or characters, except for the general notion that Frog and Toad are constantly growing in friendship with each other, as they have more and more experiences together.

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This is a fantasy early chapter book about a frog and toad's relationship. The frog and toad are the main characters who do many things, including talk. I would use this in the classroom for beginning readers and for teaching on relationships. I think the characters frog and toad were fairly round

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characters, but we didn't know much about their past.

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This Frog and Toad book is about friendship. Frog and Toad share five adventures in this book including swimming, springtime, feeling sick, a lost button and the letter. This book is a chapter book for early readers.
I like this book because the stories are entertaining and involve friendship. The

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illustrations are also very nice, you are able to see the interaction of Frog and Toad in watercolor. I enjoyed reading this book as well as having my daughter read it aloud to me.
I would use this book to discuss friendship in the classroom. The adventure involving springtime has Toad hibernating through winter, so another great classroom extension would be to include this story in a science lesson.

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This is a good book for very young readers. The plot is not great, but it is interesting enough to keep kids going. And the pictures help a lot. There are five short chapters, all are about a different subject.

These books are so great for children to read. I find that these words are simple enough for beginning children, yet they are also challenging enough for those that need more challenge. The book has a story line that leaves them open enough to keep reading about toad and frog. LOVE THEM!

This book characterizes the friendship of Toad and Frog. Toad is awaken by Frog because it is springtime. Toad wants to go back to sleep until May. Frog will be lonely without toadso he rips off the calendar until it reads May and wakes up Toad. The two skip off happily. Frog wasn't feeling well in

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summer, so Toad made him a hot cup of tea. Frog wants Toad to tell him a story, but Toad doesn't have any in mind. He stands on his head, splashes himself with water, and and bangs his head against a wall; now Toad lies in bed. He asks frog to tell him a story, but falls asleep. Toad loses his button. He asks sparrow and racoon, and they show him different buttons than his own. He goes home and finds the button he was looking for, and sews on the button for frog. They go for a swim. Toad wears a bathing suit and is embarrased, while frog freeballs it. Turtle, snake, dragonfly, mouse, and lizards meet up and all stare at Toad in his bathing suit, laughing. Toad gets embarrassed and goes home. This book is quite hillarious. The pictures reveal the date which the book originally was published, but the stories and jokes are timeless.

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Frog and Toad Are Friends is a good book that tells a stroy to children about a friendship. I think children like this book so much because it is a chapter book which makes the children feel like they are accomplishing a lot when reading this book. The author also gives children a good example of

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friendship.

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Frog is really nice to Toad. They are really good friends.

"Frog and Toad" is a good book for intermediate readers. It contains five stories in one. Children will find Frog and Toad's relationship humorous and entertaining as they go on their various outings and share funny conversations.

This is a great book for children to show them the true meaning of friendship. Frog and Toad are Friends has five short stories that show how these two friends get along - and what they do for each other.

This is a great book for children to show them the true meaning of friendship. Frog and Toad are Friends has five short stories that show how these two friends get along - and what they do for each other.

The book started out with the frog trying to wake up toad for spring, but toad would not wake up. Frog then tricked him into getting out of bed. The next chapter was about frog feeling sick and asking the toad to tell him a story, but toad could not think of one, so he tried to come up with a way

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to think of a story but still could not. He began to feel sick and frog was better so they switched and frog told toad a story. The next chapter toad lost his button after him and frog went on a walk. They decided to back track to find the button. They found many buttons that were not toad. They decided to just go home, but when toad got there he found the button on the floor. He sewed them on his jacket and gave it to frog. In the next chapter the two went to the pond to swim.Toad did not want anyone to see him in his bathing suit, but no one would leave because they really wanted to see what he looks like. He finally came out and everyone laughed, but he did not care anymore. In the last chapter Toad was sad because he did not get any mail, so frog wrote him a letter. They sat and waited for the mail and Toad was happy. I would put this book in my classroom, but I would not use it as a read aloud simply because it is to long.

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This is a great book for you to have in your classroom. I would have it in a 2nd grade. It is very easy to read but it has five different stories and adventures that frog and toad go through.

This is an amazing little chapter book with five separate stories/adventure that best friends Frog and Toad go on together. One is about losing a button, one is about being embarassed in a bathing suit, one is about wanting to receive mail, one is about sleeping with trickery involved, and one is

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about being sick and trying to make your best friend feel better. This book illustrates the meaning of true friendship!

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This is a chapter book about two friends, frog and toad. They spend all of their time together doing activities and talking about life. This is a great beginners chapter book for third or fourth graders. It's an easy read, but interesting because of the friendship that frog and toad have.