Fabulous Frogs

November 16, 2015
Jenkins (The History of Money) presents a light, off-handed overview of species of frogs from around the world, accompanied by vivid mixed-media illustrations from Hopgood (Hooray for Hoppy!). The main text explores the outstanding features of roughly a dozen frogs (“This one is called a flying frog, although it can’t really fly”), while supplemental sentences give additional details about the amphibians. Hopgood’s compositions vary in their use of space, scale, and style: thumbnail-size frogs from Papua New Guinea, the smallest known to exist, dot one white spread (and go unnamed, perhaps because Paedophryne amauensis is a mouthful), while Australia’s striped rocket frog leaps from one spread to the next, mid-introduction. Ages 5–8.