Frog Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Amphibian Lives

by Marty Crump, Tony Angell (illustrator)

An illustrated hourly guide that follows twenty-four frogs as they eat, find mates, care for their young, and survive our harsh and changing planet.

 

In this short book, celebrated biologist Marty Crump leads readers on a worldwide field trip in search of frogs. Each chapter of Frog Day covers a single frog during a single hour, highlighting how twenty-four different species spend their time. Our day begins at midnight in Indonesia, with the rustle of leaves above. It’s not a bird, but Wallace’s flying frog, using its webbed feet and emerald-green skin flaps to glide through the forest canopy. In the early hours of the morning, we hear a horned marsupial frog “bopping” and a wood frog “quacking” to attract mates. At six o’clock in the morning, beneath a streetlight in Honolulu, we meet a corpulent, invasive cane toad slurping insects—and sometimes snakes, lizards, turtles, birds, and mice. At noon, we watch parenting in action as an African bullfrog bulldozes a path through the mud to free his tadpoles from a drying pond. At dusk, in a Peruvian rain forest, we observe “the ultimate odd couple”—a hairy tarantula and what looks like a tiny amphibian pet taking shelter in the spider’s burrow. Other frogs make a tasty meal for this tarantula, but the dotted humming frog is a friend, eating the ants that might otherwise make a meal of the tarantula’s eggs.

 

For each hour in our Frog Day, award-winning artist Tony Angell has depicted these scenes with his signature pen and ink illustrations. Working closely together to narrate and illustrate these unique moments in time, Crump and Angell have created an engaging read that is a perfect way to spend an hour or two—and a true gift for readers, amateur scientists, and all frog fans.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Science

200 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2024

About the author

Marty Crump is a behavioral ecologist who works with tropical amphibians in the areas of parental care, reproduction, territoriality, cannibalism, and tadpole ecology. She has published several books on her research and experiences in tropical areas such as Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. One of these books, In Search of the Golden Frog (University of Chicago Press, 2000) chronicles her unique experiences in Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloudforest, where she collected data on the now extinct Golden Toad highlighted in this module. She acted as a mentor to the authors of this module, since her research is invaluable when profiling the Golden Toad species. Marty received her Doctorate degree from the University of Kansas in 1974 and is currently an adjunct professor at Northern Arizona University.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

MARTY CRUMP PLEASE WRITE ANOTHER ONE THIS WAS SO FUN.

i loved how entertaining and informative this was. i sped through this and would love to read more. nature is so crazy!

here is a list of my favorite things i learned:

wallace's flying frog eggs are orange bc they look like asian starling and fruit bat droppings so predators don't eat it. they become green later bc of the plants they eat (like flamingos eating shrimp!!)

- mud nesting frog tadpoles produce urea instead of the toxic ammonia so when they are developing in their mud holes, they don't die (other usually are in ponds so the ammonia they produce gets diluted and they don't poison themselves)

- wood frogs freezing over the winter but not dying bc of glucose in their body protecting their organs (they are trying to replicate this process for human organ transportation)

- direct development, no tadpoles, just froglets

- juvenile pac-man frogs hunt during the day bc of the fear of adult pacman frogs eating them by accident :0

- golden poison frogs being used for blowgun darts :0

- tomato frog mucus gluing predators to ground/ its mouth shut :0

- giant frogs estivate (summer hibernation) and then australian aborigines dig them up to squeeze out a cup of water lmfao

- gladiator frogs fighting with their sharp bony thumb spines

- matang narrow mouthed frog tadpoles living in pitcher plants :0

- frog eggs that mature in their father's vocal sacs and then one day he just spits out little froglets

- frog and tarantula symbiotic relationship is so cute

- african clawed frogs used as pregnancy tests.... :0 (hogben test) and also first amphibian astronauts

- TOADS ON ROADS people volunteer to sit by their highways and if toads approach, they scoop them up in buckets and bring them across (helping over 80 thousand)


the only thing keeping this from being a perfect book is not having photographs of these frogs. the black and white illustrations do not do some of these colorful little guys justice!

[Delta M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

ribbit

[DaniPhantom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a unique way to tell the biology of multiple frog species and their routines! I wish there is a second book, and this continues to be a series. This is a quick way to teach people about different frogs in a short span of pages.

[Kylie Gambrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and silly book with a nice conservation angle. So many species of frogs and they are all so wonderfully weird. New fact: frogs were used as pregnancy tests in the 1930s-1960s, kinda wack.

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of information in a short, easy-to-read format. Loved the illustrations too!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small, solid story about small, solid animals (frogs!). The chapters are short, slightly conversational, and very informative. I especially liked that nearly every frog featured had its call written out in plain English. You could read it in an hour's time (I did), though it might be worth spreading the reading out, as it can get repetitive. My only major complaint is that the art, while high quality, could have been colored in to really make it pop. Good for novices to get excited about our tiny friends.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book!!! Slim, easy to read, but with great scientific detail that’s easy to digest. Learned so much! Loved the references section too. The illustrations are darling— I know it’s Tony Angell’s style, but my own quibble with this book is that I think color illustrations would have been better, because so much of the book focuses on color! His style worked really well for books on corvids, since they’re less colorful. Regardless, highly recommended to anyone looking to learn more about frogs.

[Brandi Rae Fong]

Such a nicely designed, interesting little book. Each mini chapter highlights a different frog at a different time of day, highlighting its unique features and challenges the species faces in the wild. Frogs are so vulnerable, with humans being the main reason for species decline across the world. Sometimes, humans are the worst. The black and white drawings for each species were an added bonus.

Also, the book is literally little. The trim size is only 4.75 x 6 inches, but it has these nice tactile frog footprint imprints across the cover. This would make a cool gift for a frog enthusiast.

[Daggry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would work well as a coffee table book, but I loved it as a bedside table book. Nothing like marveling over, say, a male frog carrying froglets in his vocal sac to erase the cares of the day and fill the mind with delight. Granted, there’s also information on habitat, climate, and other threats, and on some of the extinctions they’ve already caused. But the emphasis here is on joyfully informative snapshots of 24 different frogs.

[William Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick, informative read. I think I'd have liked to read the full adventures, the full slogging through swamps, sloughs, bogs and rain forests.

Crump's writing is smooth and non-scientific, so it is understandable for all readers. I guess I was hoping for maybe 24 in the lives of each individual species of frog, but that would probably have been a much larger tome.

I completely enjoyed this book.

[Lauren Condon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up for the cover and for some reason I loved it, as someone who genuinely never thinks about frogs I have a weird appreciation for them and their uniqueness. Not scientific, feels like a good coffee table book to have . It’s a quick read and has some really cool illustrations for all the frogs :)

[ceci viana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was actually written for me. i love frogs <3

a fun read about different kinds of frogs in the world. and a very sweet note at the end explaining why it’s so important we spend a day with the frogs. save the amphibians! 🐸

[Denise Chojnacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, quick read. Interesting to find out how many different adaptations the different species of frogs have in the informational read. No photos, but some drawings of the different frog species start each little vignette.

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think black and white wood block style illustration was the right fit for this book. The author talks about these amazing colors but you don't get to see them unless you search for the frogs online.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the format of this book. The drawings were great and I learned A TON about species I didn't even know existed. Many had me running to the internet to see photos and videos of the amazing frogs highlighted in this book.

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading some heavy, dark nonfiction, Frog Day was a delight! I loved that every chapter took me to a different part of the natural world, housing a frog species with a unique adaptation. Once again, this book confirms that natural history is my haven, heals my soul, and bolsters my spirit.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet!

[Therese Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and illustrated little book about frogs from all around the world. Little chapters in a small book with a big heart.

[Megan Sanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excuse me while I go show everyone I know a video of a Darwin's Frog giving birth to tiny frogs from his mouth!!!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes me want to learn more about frogs!

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute black and white illustrations of each frog, short chapters with interesting facts about each frog, what’s not to like ?

[Laurie M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! The stories were perfect for learning a lot in just a few pages. Can’t wait for the rest of the Earth Day series to be released!

[Chris Felicelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man
I
Love
Frogs

[Bexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, short descriptions but still give detailed experiences of these frog species. beautiful woodcuts provide illustrations of each frog. worth checking out.

[Ronda Canary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um, yes of course I want to read about 24 weird frogs from all over the world. OH and there are cute illustrations? Even better.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adorable and informative! little book. I loved this, I love frogs, and anyone who is frog-curious should read this.

[Autumn Riehemann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love fwogs