Frog (Velthuijs)

Frog is taken by surprise when winter comes. He doesn't understand why everything is covered with white and he skids and slips on the icy pond. He is too cold to take part in any of the joyous fun that Duck is having skating or that Hare is having throwing snowballs. The animals band together to equip Frog for enjoying winter, and later they share in his rejoicing when spring arrives.

When Frog hears that Rat is off in an adventure to explore the wide world, he excitedly joins him and they set off full of anticipation. But it doesn't take long for Frog to start missing his friends Pig, Duck and Hare. He soon discovers that he was much happier leaving the wide world where it was, far from home. . .

Frog is miserable, and he cannot see why. Nobody has upset him, and nothing has gone wrong particularly, but he still feels blue. Then one of his stalwart friends makes him laugh - and suddenly he realises he's not sad anymore. He still doesn't know why he was so sad in the first place, but it doesn't matter. A perfect book to explore emotions and mood swings with the under 5s.

One autumn day Frog discovers a blackbird lying motionless in the grass. Worried, he asks his friends what can be the matter. Very gently and simply, then animals begin to understand the meaning of death and the beauty of life in this moving story.

Frog and Little Bear go off to dig for treasure. 'But how do you know there will be treasure?' says Little Bear.' I just know,' says Frog. So together they dig a hole; a hole so deep that once they are in, they can't get out. Who will rescue them? And at the end of it all, will they have discovered treasure? Of course they will.

Frog is not content to be just a plain green frog, he wants to do the things his friends can do. He tries to fly like Duck, to bake cakes like Pig and to read like Hare. But all his attempts are doomed to failure, and Frog is disconsolate, until Hare points out that his friends love him just the way he is. And in any case, he can swim and leap better than any of them!

When Rat comes to live at the edge of their wood, the animals decide they don't like having a stranger in their midst. But Frog is friendly by nature, and decides to find out if Rat is really as unpleasant as he is made out to be. As Frog discovers, Rat is intelligent and good hearted, and proves in a series of unexpected emergencies that the other animals have been too quick to condemn him.

One fine autumn day, Frog finds a little bear lost and alone in the forest. He decides to take him home to be his new friend. Hare tells him bear won't be able to talk, but Frog is determined to teach him. And to the other animals' surprise, he does! They become the best of friends, but one day, little bear decides to go back to where he came from. Frog is inconsolable - will he ever see him again?

When the rains come and the river bursts its banks, Frog, Duck, Pig and Hare are stranded. It is Frog who is a hero when he risks his life to help his friends.

In the very first story to feature the loveable amphibian, Frog is feeling most unwell. He keeps getting hot, then cold, and something inside his chest is going 'thump, thump'. Hare says it means he's in love! But who with? And how can he show his devotion - perhaps by performing the biggest jump ever?

Frog and his friends, Duck and Pig, don't believe in ghosts, until they all hear frightening noises in the dead of night. They huddle together for comfort in Pig's bed, but in the morning it is Hare who gets a real fright when he finds Frog's house empty and gets no answer at Pig's because the three friends are now fast asleep!