cover image Frogs in Clogs

Frogs in Clogs

Sheila White Samton, Sheila Sampton. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-517-59874-0

With its quick rhymes and deft repetitions, this rambunctious romp has at least a dash of Ogden Nash-ery. Matters begin tamely enough, as three ``frogs'' are introduced on the copyright page and, on the next spread, jump into a ``bog.'' Then one of the ``Boggy frogs. Soggy frogs'' opens his backpack to produce the eponymous footwear: ``Frogs in clogs!'' In similar fashion, a pig trio invades a fig tree and dons hairpieces; then ``pigs in wigs jig into the bog,'' where ``Frogs joggle pigs! Pigs jiggle frogs!'' Into the melee sail ``bugs on rugs,'' and soon ``Bugs lug pigs to rugs in fog!'' This fond foolery plays out against Samton's (Oh No! A Naptime Adventure) distinctive collages of rice paper, zestily colored with acrylics. Here snaggle-toothed bugs, in flight helmets and aviator goggles, airlift porkers as distressed frogs stand helplessly by. If the main attraction is the linguistic merriment, the zany art runs a close second. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)