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Frog: A Story of Life on Earth
*Shortlisted for the 2026 Peters Children's Book of the Year Award*
*Shortlisted for the 2025 Children's Wrainwright Prize for Non-Fiction*
*Longlisted for the UKLA 2026 Book Awards*
If frogs come from eggs,
and eggs come from frogs,
where did the first frog come from?
This is the incredible story of how frogs came to be. To find out, we go all the way back to the very beginning. Before frogs, dinosaurs, planet Earth – before even the stars existed . . . back 13.7 billion years to the moment just before the universe began. And from there, through Isabel Thomas's beautifully lyrical text and Daniel Egnéus's breathtaking illustrations, we are transported through time to the evolution of the very first frogs.
The story of frog is an epic; an adventure in space and time. It's a story still being told, in every garden, every pond and every corner of our extraordinary planet.
*Shortlisted for the 2025 Children's Wrainwright Prize for Non-Fiction*
*Longlisted for the UKLA 2026 Book Awards*
If frogs come from eggs,
and eggs come from frogs,
where did the first frog come from?
This is the incredible story of how frogs came to be. To find out, we go all the way back to the very beginning. Before frogs, dinosaurs, planet Earth – before even the stars existed . . . back 13.7 billion years to the moment just before the universe began. And from there, through Isabel Thomas's beautifully lyrical text and Daniel Egnéus's breathtaking illustrations, we are transported through time to the evolution of the very first frogs.
The story of frog is an epic; an adventure in space and time. It's a story still being told, in every garden, every pond and every corner of our extraordinary planet.
- GenresPicture BooksNonfiction
51 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2025
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 3, 2025
Frog by Isabel Thomas is a curiosity of a book in that first impressions are that it is going to be about the life of a frog but this read takes young learners and readers in the direction of an amazing journey through the evolution of a species.
Starting at the "Big Bang" and travelling though millennia to the formation of the planet ,the first living cells and the gradual evolution of water based creatures leading to amphibians , the book explores how life began leading to the Frog as well as the universe itself.
Daniel Egnéus' illustrations are beautiful and Isabel Thomas' prose is pitch perfect for enquiring minds- although some vocabulary might need a little explanation.
This is a great book for young naturalists, classroom learning exploring frogs or young readers who enjoy learning new facts.
A beautiful information book that will open young minds and one that could be a useful classroom resource
Readers Age 5-8 Ks1 and lower Ks2
Starting at the "Big Bang" and travelling though millennia to the formation of the planet ,the first living cells and the gradual evolution of water based creatures leading to amphibians , the book explores how life began leading to the Frog as well as the universe itself.
Daniel Egnéus' illustrations are beautiful and Isabel Thomas' prose is pitch perfect for enquiring minds- although some vocabulary might need a little explanation.
This is a great book for young naturalists, classroom learning exploring frogs or young readers who enjoy learning new facts.
A beautiful information book that will open young minds and one that could be a useful classroom resource
Readers Age 5-8 Ks1 and lower Ks2
May 14, 2025
A book that's only mildly about a frog. It asks us a question – which came first, the frog or the spawn? – and then decides it has to go back to the very first instances of frogless anything, and the Big Bang. Slowly it builds up to life on Earth, and then how amphibians are the fathers of anything with four limbs on our world, proving us all – humans alike – to be wondrous stardust, and then stops without actually answering the question. So what do you want most from this – a history of the universe and evolution combined, or something that talks to us about frogs, as the title suggests? It's a real chicken and egg, that… I wasn't over- or underwhelmed by the art, so this is probably three and a half stars.
April 7, 2025
What a fascinating and thought provoking book for young minds!
A very accessible way of introducing bigger scientific concepts like the Big Bang and Evolution to our younger learners.
The illustrations are colourful and full of life. I love that even though they are catered to a younger audience, they don’t shy away from being scientific and giving children a possible first introduction into elements they will recognise later on in their learning career, such as atoms, cells, and microscopic organisms.
All round a wonderful book!
A very accessible way of introducing bigger scientific concepts like the Big Bang and Evolution to our younger learners.
The illustrations are colourful and full of life. I love that even though they are catered to a younger audience, they don’t shy away from being scientific and giving children a possible first introduction into elements they will recognise later on in their learning career, such as atoms, cells, and microscopic organisms.
All round a wonderful book!
May 26, 2025
4.5 🌟
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC. All opinions are my own.
Such a great, colourful and inquisitive book. I absolutely love the pictures and the colours used, my three year old was transfixed. This book is an accessible way to explore some scientific theories such as the bing bang and evolution. Some of the language I would say was perhaps a little tricky for the age group. I would say best suited to KS1 children. My three year old thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC. All opinions are my own.
Such a great, colourful and inquisitive book. I absolutely love the pictures and the colours used, my three year old was transfixed. This book is an accessible way to explore some scientific theories such as the bing bang and evolution. Some of the language I would say was perhaps a little tricky for the age group. I would say best suited to KS1 children. My three year old thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 4, 2025
This book gives you no spoilers with the cover because it is mostly a book about how to universe formed and not about frogs.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews