Review by Booklist Review
Bishop, who illustrated Cowley's Red-Eyed Tree Frog (1999) and his own Nic Bishop Spiders (2007), presents a number of large, striking photos illustrating a clearly written discussion of the physical characteristics and habits of frogs. Dominating the book are Bishop's remarkably fine color photographs of frogs from around the world. One dual-foldout spread carries a stop-action scene showing five stages of a frog's motion as it leaps into the air and dives into water. Even the images that are magnified to many times life-size, such as the underwater shot of a tadpole in the clutches of a predatory water bug, are exceptionally clear. Another remarkable shot shows the underside of a tiny glass frog with its internal organs visible through its transparent skin. In an appended, illustrated note, Bishop relates some of his encounters with the frogs he photographed. Even libraries with dozens of frog books on the shelf should make room for this eye-catching volume.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-In this companion volume to Nic Bishop Spiders (Scholastic, 2007), the photographer takes a nifty look at frogs. Physical characteristics, diet, reproduction, and the development of egg to tadpole to froglet are included in the clear text and super-duper photos. A nice personal touch is an enthusiastic author's note, wherein Bishop describes his methods and the pleasure of pursuing frogs to photograph. He even discusses "training" a frog to catch his leap for a fat caterpillar on a leaf over the water. Group this with Jim Arnosky's simpler, handsome All About Frogs (Scholastic, 2002) and/or Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's equally colorful Flashy Fantastic Rain Forest Frogs (Walker, 1997) for a neat ranid roundup.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (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
(Primary) Amazing photographs are the stars of these volumes featuring popular creepy-crawlies. The texts are informative, covering basic anatomical, behavioral, and reproductive facts about frogs and spiders at an appropriate early-elementary level. On each spread, one of the sentences is in larger, colored type, serving as both a highlight of the main ideas and a pointer to the accompanying photograph (which is captioned with additional information). The text, however, is completely overshadowed by the photographs, which are stunningly crisp, colorful, and beautifully reproduced; it is difficult to stop gazing at them long enough to read more than that highlighted sentence (though those who do will find a fascinating depth of information). A close-up of a tarantula is so sharp you can count the individual hairs, and the luminous skin of a frog will have readers reaching out to touch the page. The frogs, in particular, are irresistible, either in close-ups of their faces peering out from the pages or frozen in spectacular mid-jump photos. At the end of each book Bishop explains the extensive work involved in his nature photography, which includes trekking through swamps and woods as well as raising spiders and frogs at home. An index and glossary are appended. [Review covers these titles: "Spiders" and "Frogs"] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Gliding frogs, glass frogs, growling grass frogs--who knew there were so many frogs in the world? Stupendous photographs combine with a genuinely enthusiastic text to open readers' eyes to this lowly amphibian like nothing has before. Gorgeous full-bleed photos present ordinary garden toads and wood frogs with as much affection and admiration as their more exotic counterparts, golden eyes, glistening skin and all captured with incredible clarity. The text is a series of happy factlets that, when finished, provide a surprisingly thorough overview of frog physiology and behavior. In their detail, these tidbits go straight to kids' interests--one African bullfrog downed 17 young cobras! A gliding frog can soar for 50 feet! Tadpoles absorb their tails as food! The beautiful design picks up on the frogs' colors, a boldly indigo text box complementing a dart poison frog and a comfortable brown one, the spadefoot toad. A chatty author's note gives insight into both Bishop's enthusiasm and the painstaking techniques behind the spectacular images; a glossary and index complete the superlative whole. (Nonfiction. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
