“Frog and Toad are Friends” is a beloved children’s book written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, first published in 1970. It is the first in a series of four books featuring Frog and Toad, who are best friends. The book consists of five short stories, each highlighting the strong bond and adventures shared between the two characters. The stories are:
Spring – Frog helps Toad wake up from hibernation. / The Story – Toad struggles to come up with a story to tell Frog when he is sick. / A Lost Button – Frog and Toad search for Toad’s lost button. / A Swim – Frog and Toad go for a swim in the river. / The Letter – Frog sends Toad a letter to make him happy.
A classic read for children, celebrating the power of friendship between a Frog and a Toad, two opposing characters. Frog is like the sunshine and Toad needs that sunshine.
Arnold Stark Lobel (1933-1987) was an acclaimed American author and illustrator of children’s books. Born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Schenectady, New York, Lobel showed an early interest in drawing and storytelling. He attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he studied art and began his career as an illustrator.
Lobel is best known for his “Frog and Toad” series, which includes: “Frog and Toad are Friends” (1970) / “Frog and Toad Together” (1972) / “Frog and Toad All Year” (1976) / “Days with Frog and Toad” (1979).
Lobel’s work is celebrated for its warmth, gentle humour, and timeless appeal. His stories often explore themes of friendship, kindness, and empathy. In addition to the “Frog and Toad” series, Lobel authored and illustrated numerous other books, including “Mouse Soup” and “Owl at Home.”
Lobel received several prestigious awards during his career, including a Caldecott Honor for “Frog and Toad are Friends” and the Caldecott Medal for “Fables” (1980). His contributions to children’s literature have left a lasting legacy, and his books continue to be cherished by readers of all ages.
I have selected the story ‘A Swim’ for my 4th and 5th graders. In it Frog and Toad decide to go for a swim in the river. Toad, feeling self-conscious about his bathing suit, is reluctant to be seen by others. Despite Frog’s encouragement, Toad insists on privacy and hides behind a rock to change. Eventually, Toad overcomes his embarrassment and joins Frog in the water. However, when Toad’s friends arrive, his shyness resurfaces, leading to a humorous and heart-warming conclusion as Toad faces his fears.
The story gently explores themes of friendship, self-consciousness, and courage. Lobel’s warm illustrations and simple, yet poignant text capture the essence of childhood insecurities and the supportive nature of true friendship, making “A Swim” a delightful and relatable read for children and adults alike.
You can find a read along of the story here, by the wonderful voice of Mr David Gibson*:
and some worksheets I have created to be used either before or after reading the story:
‘Frog and Toad are friends – A Swim’ worksheets
* David Gibson was born in Northern England in 1947 and began teaching in 1964. His five diplomas were awarded by the universities of Nottingham, Bristol, and Cambridge and he taught in England in junior and secondary schools for 15 years. He came to Greece in 1979 and taught English as a Foreign Language in private schools before joining the British Council in Thessaloniki in 1987. There, he taught English Language and Literature, was a Teacher-Trainer, and served as the Coordinator of Student Social and Cultural Activities.
In 1995, he took up a post as teacher of English Language and Literature at Pinewood International Schools, Thessaloniki, becoming the Chairman of the English Department in 1999. At Pinewood, he also coached three football teams, ran Guitar Clubs and School Bands, and was involved in a wide variety of other school activities and events.
David has worked for Cambridge ESOL for more than twenty years, as an Oral Examiner, Team Leader, Supervisor, Seminar Presenter, and Inspector, and is a founder and three-time board member of TESOL Macedonia-Thrace, Northern Greece, being a regular speaker and active participant in conventions and similar events.
In June 2008, he retired from full-time teaching in order to concentrate on other projects, but has continued to work with Pinewood students – coaching football, playing guitar with them, encouraging them to read and to write … and to watch birds.
You can see some of his inspiring work as the one half of the two-man English Teaching Theatre Group “Dave’n’Luke” here:
DAVE’N’LUKE English Language Theatre
Storytelling for kindergarten (and, of course, primary school) children is highly beneficial. Not only does it inspire imagination, but it’s also highly engaging. It captivates young learners’ attention, acts as a language booster, and ignites a love for literature.
Using puppets, props (even the simplest ones can have a tremendous effect on the little ones! – try pressing all your fingers to the front, using your hand as a beak and then engage in a dialogue with it), body language and animated voice can encourage imagination and creativity and foster social interaction: children empathize with characters and engage in discussions, developing, thus, their critical thinking, a much sought-after skill not only for their personal growth but also for their academic success. Sometimes nothing else is needed when telling a story other than imagination: creating mental pictures and getting the children physically engaged through movement can do the trick (‘imagine being the wind that blows the leaves off the tree, or being the leaf thrown out of the tree by the wind!’, ‘imagine climbing up the beanstalk, careful not to slip and fall, looking down as we climb’).
Finding the age-appropriate book for our students is of paramount importance. Books that contain simple language (or you can simplify it yourself as you read), and repetitive patterns are very helpful: fun aside, repetition can boost students’ confidence, consolidation of new vocabulary and sentence structures.
And how should you narrate (or read) a story? Standing or – better – sitting in the middle of a designated storytelling area is a good idea. A storytelling chair can serve as a focal point for teacher-student interaction during storytelling sessions, fostering a positive learning atmosphere. It can enhance engagement, create a sense of anticipation, and provide a comfortable and focused environment for children, making the storytelling experience more memorable and enjoyable.
I’ve had my eye (and set my heart!) on getting one – but then I thought: why not MAKE one? So I bought a plastic chair with ample writing space and got a pencil, a rubber and some permanent markers, and some days later … my storytelling chair was ready!!!
You can see the story of my chair unfold here:
Ways to use a strorytelling chair
Tell stories and repeat them often. Children feel more confident listening to stories when they know them inside out and know exactly what comes next.
When children become very familiar with certain stories invite them to sit on the storytelling chair and recount (or repeat) a part of the story. Anyone who sits in it becomes the storyteller with powers to entrance their listeners!
Have students identify another character on the chair. What would happen if the hero of the story met another hero (and became good friends with them?) – time for some critical thinking and communication development then!
Food for thought
How about you?
How would you use a storytelling chair?
Can you find the stories that appear on my chair?
How many can you find?
(here is something that will help you 😆 Books that appear on the storytelling chair)
How many have you used in your teaching?
Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the process yourself: approach storytelling with enthusiasm and joy. Your genuine passion for the story will be contagious, and the child will sense your enjoyment and engagement.
Nick Sharratt is a children’s author and artist who has written and illustrated close to 300 books; his illustrations are known all over the world. (His work is split between producing his own picture books – around 40 – and illustrating for numerous highly regarded authors including favourites by Julia Donaldson and Jeremy Strong as well as the much-loved Tracy Beaker series by Jacqueline Wilson). 
Find more about the author and his book here: Nick Sharratt
Shark in the park is a story about a boy named (Timothy Pope) who is testing out his new toy telescope in the park. He looks up, he looks down, he looks right and then left with his telescope and then he thinks he sees a shark fin ….could it be a shark? Or … ?
This is an enjoyable and suspenseful story with a lot of repetition and rhyme. It is constructed so that pages have a circular opening that mimics what the boy would see in the telescope. Then, when the page is turned, the reality is revealed! (In the hands of a gifted presenter who would pause at the proper time and have the children guessing, this book will keep children riveted!)
This book can also help young children learn directions (such as right and left). There is a lot of of rhyme and repetition, as mentioned earlier, which provides pace for reading aloud, opportunities for children to apply their phonics skills as well as the possibility of children joining in.
Children could make wonderful telescopes after reading
or say what they would see through their telescopes
What can you see through your telescope?
or even play a guessing game (alternating the pictures behind the circle)
And why not draw Timothy’s dad along with Nick Sharratt (second part of the video clip)?
Shark in the Park with Nick Sharratt + Draw-along
I hope you enjoy this delightful book!
A brilliant children’s book is Jan Brett’s ’The Three Snow Bears’: one of her most beautiful picture books, a wintry spinoff of Goldilocks, set in the Arctic. A polar bear family leaves its igloo for a walk to let baby bear’s soup cool just as Aloo-ki, an Eskimo girl, runs past, searching for her team of huskies, which have drifted away on an ice floe. Being a curious girl, she goes inside the polar bear family igloo to eat some soup, wear their boots and take a nap into the ‘littlest’ bed!
Not only the story is gripping, but also the wonderful, intricate illustrations, so typical in all of Jan Brett’s books: the distinctive borders and graphic side panels are hallmarks of her illustrations, and they help beginning readers by foreshadowing events.
Make sure then that kids look at the borders of her drawings: sharpen, thus their observation skills and encourage them to retell the story that takes place in the main frame, but also in the borders!
This is the way I used it with my kindergarten students:
You can see a video of how I used all this material (not at the Kindergarten, though, for reasons of children’s safety)
For the story patterns I used pics from the book. Here are the pdfs:
Here’s a worksheet (with a matching activity) I created and used:
The Three Snow Bears worksheet
For the little figures around and in the igloo I used the material for the bears I found in Jan Brett’s site and I drew Aloo-ki myself (not as well as Jan, I must admit!)
Aloo-ki and the polar bear family
For the igloo I used white self-hardening clay which I rolled into a flat sheet with a rolling pin and put it on top of a bowl covered in cling film. When the clay hardened I carefully removed the bowl and painted the igloo. Follow the steps here to make your own set:
You can also use a white plastic bowl or a plastic cup and a white plastic plate to make your Arctic scene (use blue permanent marker – and a steady hand!!!- to draw the ice blocks of the igloo).
As a follow-up activity I made some igloos for the students, a little eskimo and a little penguin (the kids had to colour the eskimo clothes in specific colours; blue for the pullover, red for the pants and also the penguin’s flippers and beak). Before attaching them with Blu Tack we practiced placing them in or on the igloo.
Enjoy this brilliant book!!!
