Noisy Frog Sing-Along

Awards

Reviews

Himmelman wows with large-scale, realistic paintings of various frogs and toads in their natural habitats. After a paragraph introducing why and how these creatures produce sounds, each following spread features one species, from peepers and toads to bullfrogs and pickerels. The richly colored backgrounds are as varied as a purple sky above a creek and a blazing desert. The author includes a silent salamander, explaining its close relation as an amphibian. Many children will enjoy mimicking the diverse noises, and budding biologists will savor the illustrations.

— School Library Journal (August 1, 2013)

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Himmelman follows up his salute to noisy bugs with a look at frogs—how and why they sing and what their songs sound like. Patterned similarly to his Noisy Bug Sing-Along (2013), each double-page spread focuses on a single sound—which reaches across the pages in a huge font—made by a frog or toad, some identified, some not. “A Peeper peeps in the cold spring rain. Peep-peep-peep.” To help readers imagine their tunes, many of the sounds are compared to other things—a plucked banjo, an angry sheep—while others use onomatopoeia—cuk, meep, ribbit—and still others are described as verbs—cry, trill, growl.

— Kirkus Reviews (July 31, 2013)

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John Himmelman, author of over 60 children’s books as well as Discovering Amphibians: the Frogs and Salamanders of the Northeast for adults, has written an outstanding introduction to frogs and toads that will certainly encourage children to learn more. He presents 10 frogs; spring peepers, American toad, Fowlers toad, American bullfrog, pickerel frog, western chorus frog, mink frog, Couch’s spadefoot toad, Pacific treefrog, and green treefrog. For each he devotes a twopage spread with a simplified, scientifically accurate drawing of the calling frog, one to two descriptive sentences, and accurate phonetic interpretations of its calls that he encourages young readers to imitate. Are they coming close to the real call? Find out on the web for recordings of the actual calls and associated games.

Later in the pages, Himmelman slips in another amphibian, an outstanding portrait of a spotted salamander so realistic that it appears ready to slither off the page. The last page shows all the call combined. At the back of the book readers will find accounts of each species of the frogs and toads and spotted salamander and suggested activities including studying acoustical details of frog calls and metamorphosis of frogs and toads from egg to tadpole to adult, taming wild frogs, and building a house for a toad in the garden. This book belongs in every elementary school library.

— Science Books & Films – Robert L. Smith (November 2013)

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Noisy Frog Sing-Along uses imaginative text and beautifully accurate color illustrations to showcase the singing styles and appearance of members of 12 frog species. Appealing to children ages 4-9, Noisy Frog Sing-Along encourages children to imitate the different sounds made by frogs, from “peep-peep-peep” of the peepers to “jug-o-rum, jug-o-rum” of the bullfrogs. Only the dark, lovely blue and yellow spotted salamander does not sing, because he has no throat pouch. After 12 stunning portraits of different species accompanied by their distinctive sounds, a final page sums up all the frog songs together in amazing rainbow text, a cacophony of frogs! A few final pages include individual descriptions of the 12 species described, plus suggested related activities. Noisy Frog Sing-Along is a wonderful opportunity to encourage children to imitate different sounds and learn about frogs and nature.

— Midwest Book Review (August 2013)

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John Himmelman’s previous publication was Noisy Bug Sing-Along, and now kids can sing along to the music of frogs! Only male frogs sing, but boys and girls both will love to peep like a Peeper Frog, plunk like a Green Frog, and growl like a Pickerel Frog! Information at the end of the book introduces readers to many more species of frogs, along with activities, such as looking for tadpoles and getting frogs to eat out of their hand. Kids will have fun doing their best frog imitations while learning about the wonderful qualities of frogs.

— Susan Heim, Chicken Soup for the Soul Editor (August 26, 2013)

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If you think frogs only sing during the spring… just head to the nearest pond, close your eyes, and listen. Ignore the whine of hungry mosquitoes…
Even though it’s late summer, frogs are still active. And they’re still noisy.

Author-illustrator John Himmelman takes you on a musical tour of frog calls, from peepers to mink frogs and toads. Frogs don’t even have to open their mouths to sing; they fill up their “big, bulgy throat pouches” and let loose with squeaks, quacks, chirps, plunks and more. There are toads that sound like angry sheep and tree frogs that “meep”.

Himmelman includes some wonderful information about the noisy frogs at the back of the book, and some links to hear frog calls.You can hear the frogs in the book at https://soundcloud.com/dawn-publications/sets/noisy-frog-sing-along-frog – and listen to more frog calls at LEAPS http://www.leaps.ms/soundpage.htm.

Himmelman also shares the secrets of “taming the wild frogs” (hint: it takes patience and worms) and gives directions for building a house for a toad – which is great because slugs eat garden veggies and toads eat slugs…

Why I like this book: for years I’ve been singing with the frogs. Now, finally, a songsheet!

— Sally’s Bookshelf Blogpost – Sue Heavenrich (September 2013)

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Noisy Frog Sing-Along by John Himmelman is a book of gorgeous close up pictures, interesting facts, and lots of fun noises – all about frogs! My kids also loved the extra information at the back of the book about frogs and the activities to get hands on experience with frogs. They wanted to go and build a frog house right away!

— Your World Natural Blogspot – Cara Nitz (August 15, 2013)

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If you were a frog, what kind of song would you like to sing? Would you rather go “ribbit, ribbit” or just say “peep, peep”? When I was a boy growing up in the country, we had a small, shallow pond on our property, and it contained lots of frogs which made all kinds of noises, especially at night. Author and illustrator John Himmelman describes the songs of different kinds of frogs, such as spring peepers, green frogs, bullfrogs, pickerel frogs, and others, along with some frog relatives like toads and salamanders. What kind of sound do you think a salamander makes? And do you know whether it is the male or female frogs which sing?

When frogs get together, they sing, making all kinds of wild sounds. Some peep, some trill, some growl, some creak, and some go WAAH, WAAH, WAAH! This happens near almost every pond and stream. Noisy Frog Sing-Along will help children to learn more about these amazing creatures and even to sing along with them. In the back of the book are a couple of pages which provide further information about the frogs and suggest some additional educational activities. Kids who love frogs will like this book. Himmelman is the author and illustrator of more than sixty books for children, including his other “noisy” book, Noisy Bug Sing-Along!, which was reviewed here previously.

— Home School Book Review – Wayne S. Walker (August 2013)

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Here’s a great family book—the perfect way to release the inner frog of a child near you! Trill like a toad. Ribbit like a Pacific treefrog. Jug-o-rum like a bullfrog. Amusing frog calls and great art will encourage youngsters to meet the frogs. Ample background material will enable adults to answer children’s questions. What a delightful introduction to fun amphibians.

— Leo Kenney, co-author, Field Guide to Animals of Vernal Pools (June 2013)

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Children won’t be able to resist mimicking the various frog calls that come to life in John Himmelman’s Noisy Frog Sing Along. The delightful illustrations and engaging text enable budding naturalists to identify frogs with both their eyes and their ears!

— Mary Holland, author, Naturally Curious, Milkweed Visitors, and Ferdinand Fox’s First Summer (June 2013)

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When frogs get together, they love to sing! They fill their big, bulgy throat pouch with air and sing out loud. Some peep, some trill, some growl, some creek, and some go WAAH, WAAH, WAAH! It’s a chorus that happens near almost every pond and stream.

Lesson Idea:
Six Traits: Word Choice – Read aloud – Noisy Frog Sing-Along. Use this book as a mentor text for word choice. How does the author use onomatopoeia and different font sizes to draw the reader in? Students could create their own book about different animals and the sounds they make, using this book as a model. At the end of the book, the author shares information about each type of frog he wrote about.

— Links to Literacy – Dawn little (June 2013)