Fans of McClements's Jake Gander: Storyville Detective
, will welcome this hilarious story about a Grizzly Scout "determined to earn a place in his family's Album of Scouting Greatness" by earning the "ever elusive" Moon Frog Badge. Humorous collage illustrations feature the dogged and knobby-kneed Samuel wearing an official Scout uniform and a resolute grin as he spends long hours in exotic libraries and bookstores to discover the exact location of the Moon Frog, which surfaces only "once every 30 years at the 12th hour of the 10th night of the 8th month." McClements fills the pages with enough details to insure a second and third reading, including a parody of a Scouting Guidebook and a picture of Samuel's numerous badges (e.g., the Old-Lady-Crossing-the-Road Badge). Eventually, Samuel and his father spare no adventure in finding the frog with just hours to count down. They drive out of the city using right turns only, crawl through the nose-shaped Booger Cave, "turn left at the fork in the path" (a literal table fork stuck in the road) and arrive just in time for Samuel to snap a photo of the amazing frog. The frog's collage portrait will not disappoint, and a surprise denouement with a hero who chooses anonymity and the environment over stardom offers a welcome antidote to celebrity culture. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)
