If Frogs Made Weather [Hardcover]

Marion Dane Bauer (Author), Dorothy Donohue (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

If frogs made weather it would rain all the time and ponds would stay full to the brim. If polar bears made the weather, winter would never end and the ground would always be covered in snow. In lyrical poems Marion Dane Bauer explains what the weather would be like if ten different animals were in charge. But what would the weather be like if little boys had their say? In this case, we would have it all.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2–In this imaginative poem, a young boy thinks about 10 different animals and theorizes about their favorite environmental conditions. For example, "If robins made weather,/trees would always be budding,/the grass fresh and green./And the melting snow/would set every worm awiggling." For hawks, "the wind would blow and blow,/rising and rising,/swirling and swirling./Hawks would stretch/their wings/and drift,/drift/down." Occasionally, the language is a bit challenging, but, for the most part, the text is lyrical and evocative. The artwork jumps out at readers with its vivid, 3-D-style, textured-paper collages. The animals form the centerpiece of each composition, while the boy, or some part of his body, appears somewhere in the background. Brightly colored backdrops help to pull the scenes together. In one eye-catching spread, three large bats take center stage against a pink sky, while the child, looking small in a field of spruce-green grass, gazes at them with arms uplifted. The pictures are masterful enough to tempt children to thumb through the book again and again. Wonderful for reading aloud or enjoying one-on-one, this enticing offering will also make a great jumping-off point for imagination games or creative writing.–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
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About the Author

Marion Dane Bauer is an author of fiction for children of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. She received a Newbery Honor Award for her best-selling book "On My Honor" (Yearling). A journalism graduate from the University of Missouri, Ms. Bauer taught English before becoming an author. Originally from the Illinois River Valley, she now lives in Minnesota.

Dorothy Donohue earned her Masters degree at Rhode Island School of Design and has since illustrated numerous books for children. She has teamed up with Holiday House author Jan Carr on several occasions for seasonal favourites such as "Dappled Apples", "Frozen Noses", "Splish, Splash, Spring" and "Sweet Hearts" (Holiday House).

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1 edition (March 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823416224
• ISBN-13: 978-0823416226
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,198,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very creative, May 5, 2007

By 

David Brown (Jacksonville, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: If Frogs Made Weather (Hardcover)

My daughter enjoys it when we read this book to her. The words are beautiful poetry and the illustrations are creatively done with cut paper. I really enjoy it.