Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Tim Hopgood


A conservation biologist by day, Martin Jenkins is also the author of several children's books about animals. With Fabulous Frogs, Jenkins and illustrator Tim Hopgood bring us a look at frogs from all over the world that can read like a playful picture book and a fun, fact filled book at the same time.



Jenkins's perspective with Fabulous Frogs is fantastic. Even before the title page, he gets some frog facts out of the way, covering that most fascinating aspect of a frog's life, the metamorphosis from egg to tadpole to frog. I applaud this. These are facts that most kid's know before even opening a book about frogs and it leaves Jenkins and Hopgood 32 pages to explore some of the more than 5,000 different kinds of frogs in the world.



Besides variety, Jenkins also highlights curious qualities, like the African grey tree frogs that build their nests, which are made of foam, in branches hanging over ponds and streams. Then there is the male Darwin frog who, "snaps up the eggs just before they hatch and keeps the tadpoles in a special pouch in his throat." Frog hibernation, something that fascinates me, is also covered, as are the jewel-like South American poison arrow frogs.




I especially like how Jenkins ends his book, telling readers that his favorite frog is the, "medium size, greeny-brown one that sits o the lily pad in my backyard pond!" Fabulous Frogs also includes an index and a few more illustrations of frogs that didn't make into the book!

Source: Review Copy






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