A classroom frog-jumping competition results in a lesson in understanding and forgiveness, as a young boy learns that parents aren’t perfect. Disappointed by his father’s repeated broken promises, Billy finds it hard to hide his feelings and harder still to stop expecting the attention and love that his father is unable or unwilling to give. Waiting patiently to go frog-hunting at Miller’s Pond, Billy’s heart sinks as the minutes slip away and his dad fails to appear. He and his mother end up going to Miller’s Pond and catch the frog that, the next day, easily wins the contest. Bunting’s ending is realistic but hopeful; Billy’s father never shows up, but Billy recognizes the value of the relationship he has with his mother and knows to expect less from adults. The plot, paced more like an easy reader than a picture book, and with a large typeface and ample atmospheric paintings, make this appeal to emerging readers, especially those facing their own feelings of loss and abandonment. (Fiction. 6-10)
