Frog and Toad Are Friends

Arnold Lobel's four Frog and Toad books - Frog and Toad Are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year and Days with Frog and Toad - were some of my absolute favorites as a girl, and I read them again and again, never tiring of those two amphibian friends, and their various activities and adventures. This first entry in the series, originally published in 1970, and chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1971, contains five brief stories (as do all the Frog and Toad titles), and introduces us to the somewhat irascible Toad, impatient and sometimes rather gloomy, and the more optimistic Frog, calm and very kindhearted.

Here, in Spring, we see Frog, attempting to waken his resistant friend at the end of a long winter's show more hibernation, and resorting to an amusing subterfuge. It's Frog who is in bed in The Story, as a concerned Toad, worried for his friend's health, tries to come up with a tale to keep him entertained. A Lost Button details the friends' search for Toad's missing jacket-button, while A Swim follows them as they take a dip - with humorous results, when Toad is reluctant to allow others to see his swimming suit - in the stream. Finally, The Letter sees Frog attempting to ameliorate Toad's depression, at his lack of correspondence.

Warmhearted without being sentimental, humorous without being hilarious, these simple stories have a gentle quality that is reassuring for young readers, while the adorable illustrations - greens and browns predominating - are both engaging and soothing. Of course, any devotee of these characters has to ask herself, at some point, whether she is more of a Frog or a Toad. I suspect that, although I'd like to be more of a Frog, I'm frequently a bit of a Toad. What can I say? I've been known to lose my temper, when my belongings go missing; to struggle to leave my comfortable bed, on particularly weary mornings; and to refuse (point-blank) to be seen in certain apparel. Yep, I'm definitely more of a Toad. Still, a woman can always try to be more frog-like, can't she...? show less

I think these stories are incredibly appealing because they are very funny, and I think the content is valuable because it is all about friendship, something very important to humans at any age. It is easy to become engrossed in Frog and Toad’s adventures and their banter throughout, particularly in the final story where Toad is embarrassed about his swimsuit. There is also a story where Frog writes Toad a letter because he is sad about never receiving mail, which I think is incredibly kind. I also enjoyed that story because the mailman is a snail, a pun on snail mail that I don’t think I got as a child.

When I read this as a child, I hated it and thought Frog and Toad were annoying. Now I find them hilariously endearing, and the stories full of deep truths. I mean, who hasn't cried out to the universe when the world is full of buttons and none of them are yours?

This book contains 5 episodes that showcase Frog and Toad's friendship. In general, Toad is a little bit grumpy or negative, and Frog pushes him to be more positive and try new things. For example, in "The Button" Toad freaks out about losing the button on his jacket and makes Frog spend all day searching for it. They find several buttons along the way, but none of them are his, and he gets more and more upset each time. At the end, he finds his own button at home. He then sews the buttons they found onto his jacket and gives it Frog as an apology and thanks you for helping him.

I can't find the words to explain how much I love this book, and Arnold Lobel in general. Here he has created the most delightful and wonderful representation show more of friendship. I love how Frog and Toad care so much about each other and show it primarily through their actions, but can sometimes be jealous of or grumpy to one another. I love how they accept one another's faults and differences (I've often wondered if Arnold Lobel considers caricatures himself with the character Toad and considers his wife or some close friend to be the every patient and positive Frog). I love the gentleness of the stories and the delightfulness of the illustrations. The books are kind, but not overly sweet, and humorous, but not absurd. I really think these are great books for children, as they model excellent storytelling, excellent illustrating, and excellent behavior all in one. show less

Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
5 stars
This is a classic early chapter book with a reading level of beginning 2nd grade. It also works as a read-aloud. The copyright date is 1970 and I think I've been reading it to children or listening to them read it to me for nearly that long. There is genius in these simple stories and the lovable pictures. Frog and Toad exemplify true friendship. They ague and apologize, make mistakes together and laugh at each other. Learning to read is a tough job and listening to beginning readers can be tedious, but I've never met a kid who wasn't motivated by Frog and Toad. Personally, I never fail to get a laugh out of Toad in a bathing suit.

I liked this book for many reasons. One thing I really liked about this book were the illustrations. The illustrator was able to create very appealing illustrations only using the colors brown and green. This color scheme adds to the theme of the overall story, as it is about a green frog and a brown toad. I also thought the illustrations were extremely sweet and did a great job of telling the story of Frog and Toad's friendship. For example, you can see Toad's concern in the illustration of him bringing Frog a hot cup of tea in bed when he is sick. I also liked the plot in this story. It includes a lot of humor which made the story very fun to read. For example, I found it silly when Toad thought that standing on his head would help show more him think of a story to tell Frog. The illustration of Toad standing on his head added to this humor by showing his awkward body and bulging eyes as he waits in a headstand. I also liked that the plot included some conflict that needed to be resolved. I thought that this kept the story engaging and made the reader want to continue to see what would happen. For example, at one point in the story Toad cannot find his button and Frog helps him look everywhere to find it. I believe that the overall message of this story is that good things will come to you if you do good for others. This is shown through Frog and Toads selfless actions throughout the book, such as when Toad finds his button on his floor at home and gives his jacket to Frog for helping him search for the button when he had it all along. show less

I simply adore the supremely cute illustrations. They are sweet and evocative, and in my opinion, they tell the story of frog and toad's friendship in a way that the rather simplistic narrative just does not and cannot. I know that Frog and Toad Are Friends is a classic of American children's literature and that for many, the book likely holds very fond and nostalgic childhood memories. However, I found the text rather dragging when I read this book as a child, and I was still finding the narrative somewhat long-winded, and even a trifle monotonous when I recently reread Frog and Toad Are Friends for a group discussion in the Children's Literature Group's Picture Book Club.

I think that while the text does manage to successfully show show more the deep friendship between frog and toad, the accompanying illustrations are actually much more evocative of that friendship and certainly much more fun and entertaining (I was actually getting a bit annoyed at the many repetitions and at times just wanted the stories to be over and done). I would still recommend Frog and Toad Are Friends as both a read-aloud and for independent first reading activities, but I honestly cannot see all that much in the narrative that is magical or exciting (in fact, I think for me, this book would have worked and would work better as a wordless picture book).

I do have one small confession to make. The very first time I read Frog and Toad Are Friends was in 1976. I was ten years old, and we had just immigrated to Canada from Germany. The book was given to me as an in-class reading assignment, and I felt annoyed and embarrassed that I, a grade four student, who had been reading rather lengthy German children's books for more than two years (since grade two), was suddenly in a position of having to read books originally conceived for much younger children (due to my lack of English language skills). I have always wondered if that feeling of childhood embarrassment might have contributed to my rather lukewarm reaction to Frog and Toad Are Friends. However, even now, as an adult, I simply cannot get myself to really, truly enjoy the text (of course, I now no longer feel that sense of embarrassment and I truly am able to appreciate the wonderful illustrations, but the narrative continues to feel somewhat lackluster to me). show less