And the Bullfrogs Sing: A Life Cycle Begins

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. [em](May) [/em]