Review by Booklist Review
Ages 2^-5. Stunning color photographs and a gripping interactive text bring you right up close to a red-eyed tree frog in a rain forest in Central America. The big pictures are arranged to tell an exciting narrative, and a few simple words draw you in and build the suspense. As evening comes, the frog wakes up hungry. What will it eat? "Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas." Do iguanas eat frogs? A photo shows the two creatures eyeing each other, and the frog does not wait to find out. It does not eat the ant or the katydid. Will it eat the caterpillar? No! the caterpillar is poisonous. Then suddenly, the hunter becomes the prey: a hungry boa snake slips and slithers along a branch. It gets very close. The snake's tongue flickers as it tastes frog in the air. Then, in a climactic double-page spread, the frog jumps and escapes. It finds a moth and crunches it. Finally, the frog shuts its red eyes, as morning comes to the rain forest. The photographs in rich shades of green and red show each creature very close up, even the hairs on the caterpillar, as the small frog would see them. The questions will draw in young preschoolers, who will be held by the pictures and by the exciting story they tell. For older readers, the afterword provides more astonishing facts. --Hazel Rochman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-In a tropical rain forest in Central America, a red-eyed tree frog spends the night looking for food while avoiding potential predators. Bishop's high-speed photographic techniques transport viewers to this distant world and allow them to see other creatures from the tree frog's perspective. Larger-than-life images document the hunt, brought to a satisfying conclusion as the well-camouflaged frog settles among the leaves to spend the daylight hours in sleep. Cowley's simple text provides a narrative arc for the amazingly sharp, clear photos. Those who want more information can consult the two pages of explanations that follow the story. Accessible to a much younger age group than most books about rain forests, this volume will also attract older readers because of the striking visuals.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) Startlingly close-up photographs of rainforest fauna depict the nocturnal adventures of a red-eyed tree frog. The simple, aptly paced text relates the hungry frog's search for a meal and his close encounters with dangerous predators. ""Do iguanas eat frogs? The red-eyed tree frog does not wait to find out."" The brilliantly colored photographs provide detailed views of the insects turned down for the frog's supper, such as a poisonous caterpillar. Handsome design complements the narrative tension by featuring variously sized pictures placed on a green back-ground that deepens in shade as night comes down and the drama unfolds: a pale green sets a soft tone when evening arrives and the red-eyed tree frog awakes, but the color darkens to a rich forest green when a hungry boa snake slithers toward the tree frog. The spread immediately following is a magnificent two-page, full-bleed photo of the frog in a fully extended jump-narrowly escaping the predator. The pages then lighten again as the frog finds his meal at last and settles to sleep at daybreak. The wide range of perspectives in the photos and the friendly text imbues the tiny creature with appealing personality without the slightest hint of anthropomorphism, and an accessible afterword provides a good overview of facts on the subject. The engaging narrative and captivating pictures are perfectly attuned to the preschool audience-a rare and noteworthy find in nonfiction. l.a. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Bishop's spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., ``But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.'' Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (``The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!'') that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
