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.

Top 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Verified Quotes

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.