Dear Treefrog, written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Diana Sldyka, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary:  This is a clever book that follows a young girl who just moved to a new home and is worried about friends and starting in a new school.  When she arrives at her new home, she finds a treefrog in her yard as she is exploring.  On the left side of the pages, the story is told in verse. It starts
“I see you
Suddenly
Among the tangled green
A tiny dollop of
Frog”
On the bottom right of the pages, there is factual information about frogs.  It reads “Small and agile, gray treefrogs spend most of their lives on land, quietly blending into their surroundings.”  Young readers will follow the main character through the seasons and how both lives are changing.  The main character will go to her new school and make new friends.  She then brings her friends to see the tree frog which goes from being outside to hibernating to being back outside in the spring.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  This book is beautifully illustrated with watercolors that both tell a story and show facts, like how frog eggs look, with labels.  This would be a great book to use for teaching poetry.  It could be used again to show how it also gives non-fiction scientific facts about treefrog lives and habitats.  The illustrations have a touch of folk art to them.  The colors also match the seasons that are happening in the book.  I think the book is unique in style.  Both the words and the colors will grab a young reader's attention.  They will end up learning a lot of tree frog facts, but also be able to talk about the emotions and experiences that the little girl when through during her move.  A must-have book for any elementary school library.