Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing

The next book that I have decided to review is titled, Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing, and was written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Ellen Shi. This book depicts a tale of a little frog who experiences her first autumn and quickly discovers that she does not like it because all the foreign sights and sounds that she encounters. But, with encouragement from her mother, she learns that new things are not as scary as she once thought they were. I classify this book as a Fantasy book, more specifically animal fantasy. According to Cullian et al., “animal fantasy attributes human thought, feeling, and language to animals” (2010, p. 213). In this book, the frog is the main character and she displays human feeling by being scared of new things, and human thought as she learns to appreciate things that is new to her.

The pictures in this book support the story as the illustrator used colors that resemble autumn. The use of such bold colors brings life to its readers as it brings memories of what autumn looks like. This is important for the story since the main point of the story talks about things that are come about in the fall that the frog has never seen before, one of those things being the changing colors of the trees around her. The illustrations are definitely a vital part of the book.

  The book is set during fall in an unspecified pond and forest. The main character is the frog, who is only referred to as “little frog”. The author gives the frog characterization by giving her human like qualities that are related to every person who reads the book. This attribute helps to draw the reader in as they are able to connect with the main character. The theme of the story is basically that change is okay, it’s going to happen, and there is no reason to be fearful of new situations. If you learn to understand the change, you may see discover the beauty in it. The style of this book is definitely geared to young readers that are beginning to build their literary skills.

An activity for this book that could be used in the classroom is to have children illustrate what they appreciate the most about a particular season and then talk about why that aspect of season is important. This activity will help children realize that change is good, and there is reasoning for it. It will also help them appreciate nature. Another activity that could be done after reading this book is to have children write a reflection about a time when they were faced with a new situation/thing, their feelings upon encountering it, and how they handled it.

I have never heard of Jane Yolen before, however after reading this book I definitely am interested in learning about other books that she has written. I would definitely recommend this book to teachers and parents for their children to read. It has a deep meaning that can applicable to any person at any age. There is always a time in which we will encounter something foreign in our lives, this book can help children learn to deal with those changes.

Cullian, B., Galda, L., Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the child. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Shi, E. & Yolen, J. (2016). Little frog and the scary autumn thing. Apex, NC: Persnickety Press.