Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing

July 4, 2016
Vivid autumn foliage is generally considered to be a thing of beauty, but those unfamiliar colors spell danger to a young frog. “To Little Frog, red and gold were scary,” writes Yolen (On Bird Hill). “They were the colors of hot sun and cold blood.” Mama Frog tells her daughter that “most things that are scary are only just new,” and after exploring the forest on her own and sliding down a pile of leaves with her father, Little Frog starts to agree. Yolen doesn’t rush Little Frog’s emotional turnaround, and newcomer Shi’s inviting mixed-media landscapes make it clear that the amphibian is never in danger. Little Frog’s (mostly) reasoned reactions to her own nervousness hint at ways readers might tackle their own fears. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. Illustrator’s agent: Anne Moore Armstrong, Bright Group.

A young frog gets some parental help for her anxiety when green leaves turn red, gold, and purple.Little Frog shudders at the color changes in her comfortable green world, but taking heart from Mama Frog's "Most things that are scary are only just new," she ventures out of the pond and into the woods. Falling leaves cause her courage to fail temporarily--but then the familiar voices of the wind, of a squirrel, and most particularly of Papa Frog, who invites her to slide down a leafy pile with him, lead her to conclude that "Red and gold and orange are not scary at all." Back home the two hop, arm in arm, for a dinner of Mama Frog's hot shoo-fly pie. In the illustrations, rich colors underscore the intensity of Little Frog's feelings, as the sunlit greens of reeds and lily pads give way to showers of leaves that, in the shadowed woods, glow with autumn reds and golds. Just to make it easier for two-legged younglings to relate, Shi outfits Little Frog with a long red scarf and, in keeping with the assigned roles, gives Mama Frog blue eyes and a bead necklace. A low-key way of introducing the idea of change, in nature or otherwise. (Picture book. 4-6) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.