Saturday, July 12, 2014

Too Many Frogs

Rabbit lived by himself in 
the hollow of an old tree.
He cooked for himself.
He tidied up after himself.
And at the end of each and every day, 
he read himself a story.
It was a simple way of life - 
No fuss, no clutter.
And Rabbit liked it.

Or did he?   Sandy Asher and Keith Graves have paired up to create the book Too Many Frogs, a heartwarming tale of two unlikely friends, a loner rabbit and a pesky frog, that celebrates the joy of reading aloud.

This book was given to Emmy on her birthday several years ago and is one of the most read picture books in our home.  Too Many Frogs begs to be read aloud with funny voices for the characters and funny sounds for the actions.  From Froggie's knock-knockety-knocking on the door followed by his croak "It's Froggie!" to his goodbye, "Thanks for your kindness. Toodle-oo!" readers will love the interaction between the two characters.

Emmy laughs and laughs as Froggie brings noise and clutter to Rabbit's quiet and tidy world.  She especially enjoys when Froggie makes the two of them a snack.

Rabbit opened the door, "I was about to read myself a story."  
"I know!" Froggie cried, and hopped right inside.  
"Love to listen!  But first, let's fix ourselves a snack - or three!  
Don't mind, do you?"  "I suppose not," Rabbit said.  
So Froggie hopped - and popped - and whipped - and flipped - and mixed - 
and fixed a snack.  Or three.  Too much fuss! Rabbit thought.  

Graves' illustrations are full of color and seem to pop right off the page.  Whoever heard of a bright blue bunny, Graves did and it's PERFECT.  There are many fun details to find on the page spreads. Emmy's favorites...the ladybug lamp, the umbrella with a crooked handle and the rug that looks like grass.  But most especially, Emmy likes the facial expressions on Rabbit.


We both highly recommend this book!  Such fun to read and talk about.  Emmy often interrupts me when I am reading so I will remind her of Froggie and Rabbit.  She just giggles and offers to go get us a snack or three!  We have been on the lookout for these two follow up books that are sure to entertain us as well.  

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for your kind words about TOO MANY FROGS! It's lovely to know how much you and Emmy are enjoying it. The other two books are out of print, but you can still find copies on-line -- often at bargain prices. All good wishes to you both!

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    1. Hi Sandy ~ I'm so happy that you found my little blog. Emmy and I both love BOOKS! I've also read Too Many Frogs with the children that I work with and they LOVE it just as much as Emmy does. Such a fun book to read out loud. Thank you for letting me know about the other two books. Best wishes!

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