THE FROG MOTHER

This fourth installment of a picture-book series explains the frog life cycle from an Indigenous Canadian point of view.

Among the Indigenous clans of the Gitxsan Nation in Northwestern Canada, the frog is known as a storyteller, truth-speaker, and polyglot because of its long tongue. The Nox Ga’naaw, or Frog Mother, spawns in April. In their home pond, the eggs hatch four days later into tadpoles and grow over the summer. By late fall, they’re ready to hibernate on the unfrozen pond bottom until spring. By June, the tadpoles have transformed into small frogs. Berry-picking camp is an opportunity for kids to show their appreciation for the Nox Ga’naaw by sharing their harvest with the frogs. At 5 years old, a female frog is ready to spawn, continuing the circle of life. In his engaging book, Gyetxw enhances plain biological facts by putting them in their cultural context; for example, the Frog Mother reflects the Gitxsan Nation’s matrilineal system. While footnotes explain many unfamiliar terms, some challenging vocabulary isn’t defined, such as metamorphosis and photosynthesis. Donovan provides wonderfully sinuous illustrations that deftly capture frog movement and utilize color.

A richly told and illustrated introduction to frogs.