Frog and Toad Are Friends

Summary

Frog and Toad Are Friends is a book of five short stories about two friends who live near each other by a meadow and a stream. In "Spring," Frog runs to Toad's house in April to wake him from his winter sleep, but Toad, who has been in bed since November, will not get up and asks Frog to come back at about half past May. Frog tears pages off Toad's calendar until it shows May, and Toad comes out into the spring with him. In "The Story," Frog feels sick, and Toad puts him to bed and tries to think of a story to tell him. He paces the porch, stands on his head, pours water over himself and bangs his head against the wall, but no story comes. Now Toad feels unwell, so Frog, puts Toad to bed, and tells him a story about a toad who tried hard to think of a story; Toad falls asleep before it ends. In "A Lost Button," Toad loses a big, round, white button with four holes on a long walk. Frog, a sparrow and a raccoon turn up one button after another, and each is wrong in some way. At home Toad finds his own button on the floor. Sorry for all the trouble, he sews every found button onto his jacket and gives it to Frog, who hops for joy. In "A Swim," Toad asks Frog not to look at him in his bathing suit, because he looks funny in it. A turtle and other creatures gather to see, and Toad stays in the cold water until he must come out; everyone laughs, Frog too. In "The Letter," Toad is sad because no one ever sends him mail. Frog hurries home, writes him a letter and gives it to a snail to deliver. The two wait together on Toad's porch, and four days later the snail arrives. Harper & Row published Lobel's book in 1970 as an I Can Read title; it was a 1971 Caldecott Honor book.

Plot or Argument

• Spring

  Frog tries to wake Toad from his winter sleep. Toad wants to sleep until half past May, so Frog tears the months off Toad's calendar, and the two go out together to see the new season.

• The Story

  Frog is sick in bed and asks for a story. Toad tries every odd trick he can think of to make a story come, and only makes himself feel ill. Frog takes his place, puts Toad to bed, and tells the story of Toad's trying, but Toad is already asleep.

• A Lost Button

  Toad loses a button on a walk, and Frog, a sparrow and a raccoon find many buttons that are not his. Toad finds his own button at home, sews all the found buttons onto his jacket, and gives the jacket to Frog.

• A Swim

  Toad is shy about how he looks in his bathing suit. Curious animals gather at the river bank to see, and when the cold finally drives him out of the water, everyone, Frog included, laughs.

• The Letter

  Toad has never had mail, and the empty mailbox makes him sad. Frog writes him a letter and sends it by snail, then sits with him and tells him what the letter says. Four days later the snail delivers it, and Toad is very pleased.

Characters

• Frog, protagonist

  Tall, cheerful and full of ideas, he wakes Toad for spring, writes him a letter and comforts him when he is sad.

• Toad, protagonist

  Short, sleepy, easily upset and very loyal; he worries about his button, his bathing suit and his empty mailbox.

• Snail, letter carrier

  A slow but willing messenger who takes four days to deliver Frog's letter.

• Sparrow, helper

  Finds a button for Toad during the search, but it is not the right one.

• Raccoon, helper

  Another searcher who brings Toad a button that does not match.

• Turtle, onlooker

  One of the animals who comes to the river to see how funny Toad looks in his bathing suit.

Lessons

• A friend notices sadness

  When Toad says the time for mail is a sad time for him, Frog does not tell him to cheer up. He goes home, writes a letter, and comes back to sit and wait with him. Friendship here means seeing a friend's small sorrow and doing something about it.

  • Why was Toad sad in The Letter?
  • What did Frog do about it?
  • How could you help a friend who feels left out?

• Making things right

  Toad shouts at his friends when they bring him the wrong buttons, and then he finds his own button at home. Instead of forgetting it, he sews all the buttons onto his jacket and gives it to Frog. The story shows how to say sorry with a gift that turns trouble into joy.

  • Where was Toad's button the whole time?
  • Why did Toad give his jacket to Frog?
  • What can you do when you have been grumpy with someone who was helping you?

• Taking turns caring

  In The Story, Toad tries so hard to help sick Frog that he wears himself out, and then Frog gets up and cares for him. Good friends take turns being the helper and the one who is helped.

  • What silly things did Toad do to try to think of a story?
  • Why did Frog and Toad switch places?
  • When has someone taken care of you, and when have you taken care of someone?

• Waiting is better together

  Toad wants more sleep, and the snail is very slow. In both stories the waiting is easier because the friends share it. Patience grows when someone keeps us company.

  • How did Frog get Toad out of bed in Spring?
  • How long did it take the snail to bring the letter?
  • What is hard to wait for, and who makes the waiting easier for you?

Context

By 1970 the I Can Read line that Harper had begun in 1957 with Little Bear was well established, and Frog and Toad Are Friends became one of its best loved titles. Its world is quiet and old-fashioned: houses with porches and mailboxes, jackets with buttons, striped bathing suits, a calendar on the wall. Nothing in it depends on the date it was written.

Composition

Lobel wrote and illustrated the book himself, drawing the two friends in muted greens and browns. He later said that Frog and Toad were two sides of his own character, and that much of his work came from his own feelings, presented as stories for children. Harper & Row published it in 1970 as a 64-page I Can Read book.

Reception

It was named a Caldecott Honor book in 1971 and began a series of four: Frog and Toad Together (1972), a 1973 Newbery Honor book, Frog and Toad All Year (1976) and Days with Frog and Toad (1979). School Library Journal ranked it among the top picture books of all time in 2012. Churchill Films adapted it as a short film narrated by Lobel, and the stories were later turned into the stage musical A Year with Frog and Toad and an animated television series.

Comparisons

• little-bear

  The first I Can Read book, four short stories built on the same plain sentences and repetition; Little Bear rests on a child's trust in his mother, while Frog and Toad rests on two equals who look after each other.

• the-wind-in-the-willows

  Grahame's river-bank friends, Mole, Rat and the vain Mr. Toad, are an older picture of animal friendship; Lobel's Toad shares the name and some touchiness, but his heart is gentle and his adventures are tiny.

• winnie-the-pooh

  Pooh and Piglet, like Frog and Toad, are a pair of friends of different temperaments whose small worries and kindnesses make up the whole plot of each chapter.

• charlottes-web

  Charlotte writes words to help Wilbur, and Frog writes a letter to cheer Toad; both books show a friend using written words as a gift.

• owl-at-home

  Lobel's later I Can Read book about a creature who lives alone; Owl's solitary misadventures set off how much Frog and Toad depend on each other.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Toad's calendar in Spring. Watch what Frog does to it.
• Every odd trick Toad tries in The Story to make a story come into his head.
• The buttons in A Lost Button. Look at the pictures and see how each one is different from Toad's.
• The snail in The Letter. Turn back to find him on the pages while Frog and Toad wait.

Key terms and names

Spring

The season after winter. Frog is eager to enjoy it, but Toad wants to keep sleeping.

Half past May

Toad's made-up time for waking up. Months do not really have a half past, which is part of the joke.

Button

A small round fastener sewn on a jacket. Toad's lost one is big, round, thick and white with four holes.

Bathing suit

Clothes for swimming. Toad thinks he looks funny in his and does not want anyone to see.

Mail

Letters brought to your house. Toad's mailbox is always empty until Frog sends him a letter.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How did Frog get Toad to wake up in Spring?
2. Comprehension What did Toad do with all the buttons the friends found?
3. Comprehension Who carried Frog's letter to Toad, and how long did it take?
4. Interpretation Frog tore pages off Toad's calendar. Was that a kind trick or an unkind one? Why?
5. Interpretation In The Story, why do you think Toad got sick from trying so hard?
6. Interpretation Frog laughed at Toad in his bathing suit. Do you think he should have? What could he have done instead?
7. Big Question Frog told Toad he was glad Toad was his best friend. Why is it good to tell our friends that we love them?

Faith Connections

• Proverbs 17:17 (Scripture)

  A friend loves at all times. Frog loves Toad when he is sleepy, grumpy about his button, shy in his bathing suit and sad about his empty mailbox.

• Romans 12:15 (Scripture)

  Paul tells Christians to weep with those who weep. Frog does not leave Toad alone on the porch; he comes back and shares the sad time until the letter comes.

• Galatians 6:2 (Scripture)

  Bear one another's burdens. In The Story the two friends carry each other in turn, first Toad caring for Frog and then Frog caring for Toad.

• Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (Scripture)

  Two are better than one, for if one falls the other lifts him up. Toad's lost button becomes a gift because a friend helped him look for it.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Frog and Toad are very different: one is cheerful and quick, the other sleepy and easily hurt. In every story one of them has a small trouble, and the other helps, waits or gives. So friendship does not need two people who are alike; it needs two people who keep showing up for each other.

Rhetorical device: repetition with variation. In A Lost Button each found button is held up and Toad says what is wrong with it, a black one, a two-holed one, a small one, until the pattern is broken by the button on his own floor.

Debate: Resolved: Frog was right to trick Toad out of bed by tearing the pages off his calendar.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Pick one story and tell how Frog or Toad was a good friend in it. Give two things he did.

Comparison with The Wind in the Willows: Lobel's Toad and Mr. Toad of Toad Hall are both toads with friends who help them. Tell how the two Toads are different and which one you would rather have for a friend.

Medical Lens

The book has no real illness, but The Story is a small picture of caregiving between friends: Frog feels unwell, Toad puts him to bed and tries to entertain him, and then, worn out, is put to bed in turn. Toad's long winter sleep in Spring is animal hibernation treated as comic oversleeping, not a medical matter.

• "The Story"

  Frog, feeling unwell, is put to bed by Toad, who exhausts himself trying to think of a story; Frog then cares for Toad.

  Nursing Caregiving

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Set up a class mailbox and have each child write a short letter to a classmate, the way Frog wrote to Toad, then deliver the letters slowly, one a day, like the snail.

• Classroom

  Put a pile of buttons on the table and have the children describe Toad's button (big, round, white, four holes) and sort out the ones that could not be his.

• Fiction

  Tell the story Frog would have finished if Toad had stayed awake to hear it.

• Dialogue

  Act out Spring: one child is sleepy Toad who wants to stay in bed until half past May, and another is Frog thinking of a way to get him up.

Further Reading

• Frog and Toad Together, Arnold Lobel

  The second book of stories (1972), a Newbery Honor book in 1973.

• Frog and Toad All Year, Arnold Lobel

  Stories through the four seasons (1976).

• Days with Frog and Toad, Arnold Lobel

  The last of the four books (1979).

• Fables, Arnold Lobel

  Lobel's own animal fables, winner of the 1981 Caldecott Medal.