Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 1-In the first book, Frog is jealous when his best bud, Turtle, is also friendly with Otter, Bird, and Squirrel. However, when Baby Bear threatens Turtle, Frog is the first one to the rescue, followed by the others. After they are safe from danger, Frog realizes that it is OK to have many friends. The colorful animals have facial expressions that show their feelings; otherwise they are illustrated realistically. The simple words and sentence structure along with the lesson learned make this a good choice for beginning-reader collections. In April Fool! Harry and Emily are trying to think of tricks that are safe and fun to play on their parents and one another. When the big day arrives, the kitten siblings are ready to fool each other and also are tricked themselves. The text is a bit choppy and doesn't flow as well as in the first book, but the cartoons of the cat family are amusing. This is an adequate beginner-level book with the often-forgotten holiday as its theme.-Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Frog is a possessive friend. When Turtle professes to enjoy the company of Otter, Squirrel, and Bird, Frog implies that he hopes a bear will eat her. Fortunately, Baby Bear and Mama Bear donÆt cause any major damage. Perky woodland animals and images of flora and fauna inhabit the pages of this easy reader, which offers plenty of repetition and enough of a story to engage kids. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Bauer and Hearn (Turtle Dreams, 1997) pair up for their second easy reader about a group of forest friends, this time with the addition of an overbearing frog that wants to claim Turtle as his best friend while excluding the other animals. Turtle tries her best to remain friends with everyone, artfully avoiding Frog's exclusionary tactics. When a bear cub arrives on the scene, all of Turtle's friends play a part in rescuing her, and she wisely concludes, "A turtle can't have too many best friends." Bauer skillfully works quite a bit of characterization and humor into her plot, which offers some spot-on comments about friendship applicable to the intended first- and second-grade audience. The text, written at the 2.4 grade level, is set in a large typeface with generous white space, and the story is logically divided into short chapters with a variety of illustration sizes and placements just right for this level. Hearn's appealing animal characters add considerable charm to the whole, with a bossy frog, earnest turtle, inquisitive bear cub, and furious mother bear arriving on her hind legs to claim her baby. Though Frog and Turtle don't rise to the stellar level of the Frog and Toad series, more of their group's adventures would be welcome additions to the easy reader shelves. (Easy reader. 6-8)
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