Leaps and Bounce

February 15, 2016
The team behind 2013's Rooting for You returns with another motivation-minded, pun-titled story for those in the midst of growing up. Instead of an underground seed blossoming into a flower, this book opens underwater, where clusters of eye-shaped eggs float amid the marshy plants: "Who's there inside?/ What will you be?/ Spring has sprung/ a mystery!" Only the very youngest readers won't be able to identify the tadpoles that later burst from the eggs and eventually sprout legs, developments underscored by Hood's recurring assertion that "changes come to all who grow." Cordell's squiggly cartooning is well suited to the tadpoles' youthful energy, and appearances from newts, egrets, and other animals give a hint of the frogs' broader environment. Multiple horizontal gatefolds add a touch of drama, and the enthusiasm in Hood's rhymes is unflagging, and she even manages to rhyme "amphibians" with "shenanigans." The idea that physical growth and development bring new opportunities and adventures comes across loud and clear. Ages 3â5. Author's agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Illustrator's agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio.

January 1, 2016
Changes are happening underwater--look closely and watch the fun as a clutch of eggs turns into leaping, bouncing frogs. A cluster of eggs, "round and spotted, / polka-dotted," waits beneath the water's surface, and readers are invited to wonder what's inside. The mystery doesn't last long--in just a few page turns, wiggling, squiggling creatures emerge, exploring their underwater environs. Several gatefolds add to the fun, as the changes literally unfold before readers' eyes. Tadpoles zip and zap, splish and splash across the page, smiling and leaping out of the water. But "changes come to all who grow," and soon the young amphibians sprout legs. In almost no time, they become "leaping, peeping, hopping, bopping" frogs! As in their charming Rooting for You (2014), Hood's energetic rhyming text is joyfully matched with Cordell's humorous illustrations. The wordplay is delightful, full of internal rhymes and bouncing rhythms. Interestingly, Hood never names the stages of frog development but instead encourages readers to notice the changes at each step. Cordell's smiling frogs, with their goggling eyes, are very similar to his loving, happy mama and baby frog in Lauren Thompson's Leap Back Home to Me (2011). Cheerful tadpoles and frogs are full of movement, clearly loving life in the pond. The life cycle of a frog becomes a joyful, energetic celebration of growing up. (Picture book. 3-5)

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January 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-A lighthearted rhyming story about growing up. In the pond are hundreds of eggs, "round and spotted, /polka-dotted." Who's inside, and who will they be? Spring is here, and it has brought a mystery to this pond, where "dragonflies investigate [and] ducklings stop [to] watch and wait." Soon there are subtle changes inside the eggs, and the little dots inside begin to grow tails in their first step to becoming real frogs. Now they burst forth from the egg sac and zip through the pond's waters. Before long, two legs appear and then two more. Now the "clever little divers [are] dashing. Kicking, flicking, /splishing, splashing!" And, finally, as new frogs, they enjoy sitting on logs by the edge of the pond. And just like everything else in nature, "few of us grow up unchanged." The cartoonlike drawings that accompany this rhyming text are done in pen and ink, mostly in hues of green and other colors of nature. The humorous illustrations set the mood. VERDICT A fine choice for one-on-one sharing. Children will enjoy the foldout pages, full of froggies and tadpoles.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

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