Red-eyed Tree Frog - Hardcover

Cowley, Joy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590871757 ISBN 13: 9780590871754

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 1999

Synopsis

In a tropical rain forest in Central America, a red-eyed tree frog spends the night looking for food while avoiding potential predators.

Award-winning photographer Nic Bishop's larger-than-life, gorgeous images document the hunt, which ends happily with the frog settling down in the leaves to spend his daylight hours sleeping! Joy Cowley's simple, readable text makes the frog's story fun, interesting, and accessible to young readers. This is a nature tale like you've never seen before!

About this title

About the Authors

Joy Cowley began to write for children as a way to help her son with his reading. Since then, she has written over 400 books for early readers, including the Boston Globe/Horn Book winner Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Mrs. Wishy-Washy, Big Moon Tortilla, and Gracias, The Thanksgiving Turkey. Her latest title is Chameleon, Chameleon, which is a follow-up to the Red-Eyed Tree Frog. She currently writes for both adults and children.In grade school, Joy was struggled with reading. However, when she discovered the adventures found in books, she "forgot" that she couldn't read. "By the age of 11, I was a book addict who haunted the local library," says Joy. " And like all children who over-dose on reading, I penned the overflow. Writing too, became an addiction."She married a farmer when she was twenty-years-old, lived on a dairy farm and raised four children. "During those years I milked cows, changed diapers, made puppets and play dough and wrote short stories in the evenings." Joy states. An editor in New York read one of those stories, reprinted in Short Story International. That query led to five novels for adults. She was also writing stories for her son Edward, who was a slow reader. These little stories made their way to other children, other schools and by the early 1970s, teachers were making "big books" from them to use with their students. "Can you get these stories published?" they asked.Joy is still writing full-time. These days the creative hours are divided between adult writing - articles, spiritual reflection material, stories and novels - and books for children.Joy Cowley lives in New Zealand with her family.

Sibert Medalist Nic Bishop is the author and photographer of many award-winning books for children, including Red-Eyed Tree Frog; Chameleon, Chameleon; Nic Bishop Spiders; and most recently, Nic Bishop Snakes. He has a doctorate in biological sciences and a passionate interest in many of the smaller animals on our planet. Nic lives in New Zealand. Visit him online at nicbishop.com.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 3-In a tropical rain forest in Central America, a red-eyed tree frog spends the night looking for food while avoiding potential predators. Bishop's high-speed photographic techniques transport viewers to this distant world and allow them to see other creatures from the tree frog's perspective. Larger-than-life images document the hunt, brought to a satisfying conclusion as the well-camouflaged frog settles among the leaves to spend the daylight hours in sleep. Cowley's simple text provides a narrative arc for the amazingly sharp, clear photos. Those who want more information can consult the two pages of explanations that follow the story. Accessible to a much younger age group than most books about rain forests, this volume will also attract older readers because of the striking visuals.
Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Stunning color photographs and a gripping interactive text bring you right up close to a red-eyed tree frog in a rain forest in Central America. The big pictures are arranged to tell an exciting narrative, and a few simple words draw you in and build the suspense. As evening comes, the frog wakes up hungry. What will it eat? "Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas." Do iguanas eat frogs? A photo shows the two creatures eyeing each other, and the frog does not wait to find out. It does not eat the ant or the katydid. Will it eat the caterpillar? No! the caterpillar is poisonous. Then suddenly, the hunter becomes the prey: a hungry boa snake slips and slithers along a branch. It gets very close. The snake's tongue flickers as it tastes frog in the air. Then, in a climactic double-page spread, the frog jumps and escapes. It finds a moth and crunches it. Finally, the frog shuts its red eyes, as morning comes to the rain forest. The photographs in rich shades of green and red show each creature very close up, even the hairs on the caterpillar, as the small frog would see them. The questions will draw in young preschoolers, who will be held by the pictures and by the exciting story they tell. For older readers, the afterword provides more astonishing facts. Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590871757
• ISBN 13: 9780590871754
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32