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FROGS by James Martin

FROGS

by James Martin & photographed by Art Wolfe

Pub Date: Nov. 1st, 1997
ISBN: 0-517-70905-8
Publisher: Random House

The full-color photographs in this work pay gleaming, glistening homage to the frog, who survived for millions of years after the dinosaurs, only to be endangered by manmade pollutants today. Martin and Wolfe (Hiding Out, 1993, etc.) include startling examples of frogs' adaptations to climate and habitat. There are the white spotted burrowing frogs of Australia, which stay underground in desert climates for up to seven years, emerging only when it rains, and wood frogs, which allow themselves to freeze in winter, miraculously thawing out in spring. Wolfe includes a rainbow of brightly colored poisonous dart frogs, as well as several views of camouflaged frogs (which readers must find). The only frustration—a minor one—is that some intriguing frogs mentioned in the text are not represented in the pictures. Otherwise, this is a convincing testament to unique creatures and their increasingly threatening environment. (Picture book. 7-10)