Frog and Toad

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Frog and Toad are the main characters in a series of easy-reader children's books, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel.

Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short stories chronicling the exploits of a frog and his friend, a toad, simply named Frog and Toad. Some of their adventures include: attempting to fly a kite, cleaning Toad's messy house as opposed to waiting until "Tomorrow" to do so, and pondering the ethics of being "Alone".

The two protagonists do carry specific traits about their personalities and appearance. Frog is taller, with a green shade, and is more friendly and relaxed than Toad; Toad is short and stout, with a brown shade to his exterior. Toad is also the more serious and irritable of the two.

In 2008 three of Arnold Lobel's uncolored, unpublished, Frog and Toad books were discovered in an estate sale, they were consolidated into two books and colored by Lobel's daughter Adrianne Lobel.

The Frog and Toad books, in order of publication date, are:

• Frog and Toad are Friends (1970) (ISBN 0-06-444020-6)
  Stories: "Spring," "The Story," "A Lost Button," "A Swim," and "The Letter"
• Frog and Toad Together (1972) (ISBN 0-06-444021-4)
  Stories: "A List," "The Garden," "Cookies," "Dragons And Giants," and "The Dream"
• Frog and Toad All Year (1976) (ISBN 0-06-444059-1)
  Stories: "Down The Hill," "The Corner," "Ice Cream," "The Surprise," and "Christmas Eve"
• Days with Frog and Toad (1979) (ISBN 0-06-444058-3)
  Stories: "Tomorrow," "The Kite," "Shivers," "The Hat," and "Alone"

• The Frogs and Toads All Sang (2009) (ISBN 0-06-180022-8) (with Adrianne Lobel)
  

• Odd Owls and Stout Pigs (2009) (ISBN 0-06-180054-6) (with Adrianne Lobel)
  

Barnes & Noble published a hardcover edition called Adventures of Frog and Toad (2008), which includes the complete text and illustrations from Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, and Days with Frog and Toad. (ISBN 0-7607-7104-9; ISBN 978-0-7607-7104-4)

Frog and Toad are Friends was the recipient of a Caldecott Honor award. Frog and Toad Together won a Newbery Honor award.

Frog and Toad Together and Frog and Toad are Friends were made into stop-motion films by John Clark Matthews in the mid-1980s.^[1] The Frog and Toad books inspired a Broadway musical, A Year with Frog and Toad. The musical was commissioned by Lobel's daughter, Adrianne Lobel, played off-Broadway, and ran briefly on Broadway in 2003. It was nominated for three Tony awards.

"Frog and Toad" is also the name of a song written by drummer Dave King of the alt-jazz trio The Bad Plus.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Review of series in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
• Frog and Toad Are Friends at the Internet Movie Database
• Frog and Toad Together at the Internet Movie DatabaseChance Find Leads to New Lobel Picture Books
• Corbett, Sue Chance Find Leads to New Lobel Picture Books, Publishers Weekly, Children's Bookshelf, (May 28, 2009).
• Adrianne Lobel describes how her father’s handmade books were discovered and how she colored them. YouTube video from HarperCollins.