Brenda Z. Guiberson

I've read most of the books illustrated by the incredibly talented Russian-born illustrator Gennady Spirin. He remains at the top of the list for an artist whose talents are lush and incredibly beautifully detailed.

As the title notes, this is a book which focuses on the animals of the great northern forest, home to a unique ecosystem. Spirin captures the life of animals and the lush plants therein.

And, as the author notes, each year more and more encroachment occurs and there is a real threat to the life of all therein.… (more)

As always, the team of Brenda Guiberson and Gennady Spirin together create another stunningly illustrated book that tells the life of frogs throughout the world. Spirin's illustrations make the frog seem real, and the reader can almost actually feel the skin, hear the frog song, and watch as the eggs are safely tucked away. Each frog has a unique way of protecting the eggs until they hatch.

The bright orange and blue shiny colored strawberry poison dart frog of Costa Rica trills a sound as a pile of wet leaves becomes the home for eggs. Carrying each hatched tadpole to a separate poll of water high up in the trees.

In the United States, Oklahoma and the lovely Great Plains contain a narrow mouthed toad tyaing moist in a shady spider hole..then when it rains, a song is belted on as they live with a tarantula.

Incredibly in Ecuador, the Surinam toad makes a rattling sound as the female carious 100 eggs! Hard to believe, but 100 eggs are carried in the skin on her back, as she dips and dives for food in the mud. Four months later, froglets break right through the skin and swim free.

Interestingly is the Scarlet-sided pobblebonk who hails from Northeastern Australia. After a heavy rain, the female lays egss of the water and whips up the gooey mess into a ball of bubbles. The ball of bubbles protects the eggs as the float of a raft of whipped up mess.

These are but a few of the frogs beautifully illustrated and intelligently described.

The author notes at the end of the book, that today, one third of frogs struggle to survive. They need clear water, clean air and lots of plants, all of which are sparse in many areas of the world.… (more)