And the Bullfrogs Sing: A Life Cycle Begins

by David L. Harrison, Kate Cosgrove (Illustrator)

Overview

Rumm . . . rumm . . . rumm. A male bullfrog sings. A female bullfrog likes his song. And a life cycle begins.

Eggs hatch and become tadpoles. The tadpoles nibble plants. They grow legs and start to breathe. Now they are little bullfrogs. They eat flies, fish, and spiders. In the winter they hibernate. And after three years, they are adult bullfrogs. Rumm . . . rumm . . . rumm.

Lyrical prose and elegant art depict the life cycle of a bullfrog in this nonfiction picture book by an award-winning poet-biologist.

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823438341
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

David L. Harrison is a writer of both poetry and prose for children, and is a biologist as well. His books have received state awards in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Arizona, South Dakota, Indiana, Texas, Kentucky, and Virginia. Awards also include IRA/CBC Children's Choices, NCTE Notable Poetry Books, and Bank Street College Best Books. The David Harrison Elementary School in Springfield, Missouri, is named in his honor. David lives in Springfield, Missouri.

Kate Cosgrove has received many awards and honors for her artwork, including a 2018 Highlights Foundation Scholarship. And the Bullfrogs Sing is Kate's debut as a picture book illustrator. She lives in Lansing, Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

05/20/2019

The male bullfrog’s thrumming song—“rumm rumm rumm”—marks the beginning and the end of the two-year cycle this book covers, beginning with an adult male bullfrog looking for a mate and ending with his offspring finding mates of their own. The stages of frog life are simply and clearly presented, though the narrative skips from egg to tadpole without mentioning the crucial step of fertilization. Harrison’s plainspoken text—“A fish tries to eat an egg. Yuck!”—goes on to cover the young bullfrogs’ progression from prey to predator, folding in details about hibernation and maturation. Cosgrove’s full-spread illustrations situate cheerful, bulbous bullfrogs at various ages and stages in layered textures shaded mostly in green, blue, and lavender. Endnotes offer facts and resource links, capping this effective conjuring of the bullfrog’s life and aqueous world. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

05/17/2019

PreS-Gr 2-Starting with a lyrical title, the content illustrates the life cycle of the bullfrog. Young readers are provided with all the elements necessary to learn about growth cycle, diet, predators, and hibernation. Cosgrove's visuals compliment Harrison's text; the pictures and words flow together smoothly and offer an attractive presentation. One element is omitted: the male's role of fertilizing the eggs. Harrison focuses on the female choosing her mate among the full-throated bigger males. End matter consists of fast facts about bullfrogs and recommended books and websites. VERDICT A storytime selection, suitable for the juvenile nonfiction picture book collection.-Nancy Call, formerly at Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

School Library Journal

2019-03-03

The cycle of frog life begins with a male bullfrog's song.

Harrison uses simple, short sentences to describe bullfrog courtship and development: singing, eggs hatching, tadpoles growing, eating and the threat of being eaten, hibernating, and a season of unsuccessful singing before the young frog grows big enough to sing loudly and attract a mate. Appropriately for the preschool audience, the author ignores the variations in bullfrog life that reflect different climate zones. He also simplifies breeding: "A female bullfrog likes his song. Before long she lays eggs." (There is no backmatter note about fertilization to help caregivers manage questions about what happens between the song and the eggs.) Debut illustrator Cosgrove uses pencils and digital tools to create stylized illustrations that show frogs in a likely environment. She shows the (textually unmentioned) differences between males and females nicely (males have a much larger tympanum, a hearing organ behind their eyes), but occasionally text and illustration don't quite match. On the spread that reads, "The babies have no legs," some of the tadpoles do have legs. On the next spread, "They grow fatter and begin to grow legs," and indeed, the picture shows the process of growth from tiny tadpoles to larger ones developing legs. The text lends itself well to reading aloud, with opportunities for sound effects, and the illustrations show well from a distance.

A useful addition to a nature-themed storytime. (additional facts, further reading, online references) (Informational picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

"Harrison uses simple, short sentences to describe bullfrog courtship and development . . . The text lends itself well to reading aloud, with opportunities for sound effects, and the illustrations show well from a distance. A useful addition to a nature-themed storytime."—Kirkus Reviews

"In Cosgrove's illustrations, the wide-eyed frogs leap, swim, rest, and sing among blocks of color filled with energetic scribbles that outline the many plants of the wetland environments. Whether full-page illustrations or double-page spreads, the art is full of movement. A page of back matter gives more information about bullfrogs and includes a brief bibliography."  —The Horn Book

"Cosgrove’s full-spread illustrations situate cheerful, bulbous bullfrogs at various ages and stages in layered textures shaded mostly in green, blue, and lavender. Endnotes offer facts and resource links, capping this effective conjuring of the bullfrog’s life and aqueous world." —Publishers Weekly

"Cosgrove’s visuals compliment Harrison’s text; the pictures and words flow together smoothly and offer an attractive presentation. . . . A storytime selection, suitable for the juvenile nonfiction picture book collection."  —School Library Journal

From the Publisher