Phonics Help Pick: Frog on a Log?

Frog on a Log?
by Kes Gray
Illustrations by Jim Field
Scholastic Press
2015
32 pages
ISBN: 9780545687911

(ebook also available)

* Review, Kirkus Reviews:

"The clear, guffaw-inducing illustrations and repetition and rhyme give all the support (new readers) need for success. Mo Willems fans will find this a perfect challenge, and storytime will never be the same. Impossible to resist." --Kirkus Reviews 

A friendly but inquisitive frog asks a bossy, know-it-all cat where he should sit. The cat orders him to sit on a log, but Frog doesn't want anything to do with sitting on a hard, cold log or the possibility of  getting splinters in his backside.  He asks the cat question after question about each animal  and the rule of where each should sit. The unflappable cat  tells the frog exactly where each should sit. 

The dynamic rhyming and fun word play will have parents smiling and children giggling. Not only will the rhyme teach kids the pronunciation of words, the frog asks about animals not normally included in picture books.   Kids can add hares, mules, gophers, storks, weasels, moles, newts, puffins, and gibbons to their vocabulary.

The cat explains each animal's seating preference until the frog asks the ultimate question and one that is bound to end with a belly laugh! You may not want to read this clever book as a bedtime story unless you want to wake little ones up! I can't imagine a child who would not be fully awake and questioning and begging for more after reading this book. Frog on a Log? is bound to be that favorite childhood  book that your toddler will ask for again and again and again (you get the picture).

I LOVED this children's book. I can see this being used in English as a Second Language classes to teach phonics and using it to teach rhyme as a poetic device.

Highly, highly recommended for every emergent reader of any age. This one is great fun!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the F & G from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)