Frog Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Amphibian Lives (Earth Day)

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

In this short book, renowned biologist Marty Crump takes readers on a global journey in search of frogs. Each chapter of Frog Day focuses on a frog during a specific 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 “thumping” and a wood frog “croaking” to attract mates. At six o’clock in the morning, beneath a streetlight in Honolulu, we meet a corpulent, invasive cane toad devouring insects—and sometimes snakes, lizards, turtles, birds, and mice. At noon, we observe parenting in action as an African bullfrog bulldozes through the mud to free his tadpoles from a drying pond. At dusk, in a Peruvian rainforest, we see “the ultimate odd couple”: a hairy tarantula and what looks like a tiny amphibian pet sharing 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 consume the tarantula’s eggs.

For each hour of Frog Day, award-winning artist Tony Angell has illustrated these scenes with his distinctive pen-and-ink drawings. Working closely to narrate and illustrate these unique moments in time, Crump and Angell have created an engaging read that is perfect to enjoy in an hour or two—and a true gift for readers, amateur scientists, and all frog enthusiasts.