Being Frog

Focused on frogs’ essential frog-ness rather than anthropomorphized interpretations of amphibian life, Sayre uses rich photographs and evocative language to explore how frogs might understand and experience their environments. Spare, poetic language with a loose sense of rhyme is paired with photographs documenting frogs at rest and in motion: “A frog must hunt./ It scans. It spies./ It crawls. It lunges./ It fails. Retries.” Sayre’s close-up photos have a crystalline lucidity, immersing readers in the animals’ lush, watery world. Simple questions (“Does frog time fly? Or trail, snail-slow?”) invite readers to consider how the world may look and feel to a frog. A robust author’s note thoughtfully explains how the book was made, as well as the differences between anecdotal evidence and scientific study. Sayre’s gentle argument—“for me a made-up frog cannot match the beauty of a real frog—a creature so alive in its pond world”—persuades. Ages 3–8. [em](Feb.) [/em]