Hip-Pocket Papa

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Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
The unusual life story of the tiny hip-pocket frog of Australia is presented both dramatically and vividly, from eggs through tadpoles to froglets. At first the male and female frogs take turns guarding the eggs. But when the tadpoles emerge, the female leaves the male in charge. They crawl into special pockets in his hips, while the father must find food for himself in a dry season and keep them safe. After thirty days he searches and finally discovers a creek where the froglets can climb out to be on their own. Marks combines an attractive esthetic with a great respect for scientific naturalistic accuracy, using watercolor, pen, and pencil. The double pages are rewarding scenes of nature with some attention to the inhabitants but clear focus on the habitat. A creature the size of a thumbnail, the frog seems huge and powerful as depicted across the jacket with froglets. There is also an animal glossary of the other animals appearing in the story, plus added notes. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
School Library Journal
K-Gr 4—In Australia's temperate rainforest, a miniature drama plays out among the leaves on the forest floor. Two hip-pocket frogs, less than an inch long, guard their eggs until tiny tadpoles emerge and wriggle up the male's hind legs into hidden pockets. Once the eggs hatch, the female's work is done, but for the next 30 days, the male must hunt for food and keep his skin wet while eluding predators. By the time the froglets emerge from his pockets, he has reached a creek bank where they can find the moisture they need for their continued survival. An animal glossary includes information about the currawong, antechinus, quoll, and other creatures the frog encounters. Marks's vibrant watercolors offer close-up views of the frog and his surroundings, revealing interconnections that cannot be seen easily by much larger humans. A photo of the hip-pocket frog appears in Markle's Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs (Walker, 2006). Mark W. Moffett's Face to Face with Frogs (National Geographic) and Nic Bishop Frogs (Scholastic, both 2008) both use dramatic photos to provide a more wide-ranging introduction to these fascinating amphibians. While libraries will want to make sure those titles are in their collections before adding this one, Markle's new book offers a unique introduction to a specific species.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Kirkus Reviews
Building on the appealing notion of nurturing fathers, Markle and Marks present this tiny Australian frog in the context of its natural environment. Both male and female hip-pocket frogs guard their developing eggs, but after they've hatched, the male keeps his tadpoles safe in hip pockets until they have used up their yolks and developed lungs. The poetic text follows one male journeying to a new and wetter home, describing the creatures he eats and those that want to eat him along the way. Without explicitly using the phrase, she even offers an example of the food chain: A quoll catches the dusky antechinus hunting the frog. These and other Australian animals from the story are further described in an animal glossary at the end. The detailed, realistic watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, mostly double-page spreads, provide a frog's-eye view of the shadowy forest floor, pulling out to show predators overhead and, once, for a panorama of the temperate rainforest. This intriguing, informative introduction is a worthy successor to the team's Finding Home (2008). (author's note, facts, further sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781570917080
  • Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.
  • Publication date: 2/1/2010
  • Edition description: New
  • Pages: 32
  • Sales rank: 1,326,794
  • Age range: 5 - 8 Years
  • Product dimensions: 8.60 (w) x 11.10 (h) x 0.40 (d)

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