Frog and Toad

If you are a middle-aged woman (or probably any woman at all) you NEED to read Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories; specifically the one called "Cookies" from Frog and Toad Together and "A Swim" from Frog and Toad Are Friends. I am reminded of the joy of these stories every time I have an emergent reader in the house, which for me has been about every 5 years in recent history. :) The large print, simple words, brilliant illustrations, and uncomplicated plot lines make them must-reads for beginners. Did I mention the human nature cleverly personified by a frog and a toad? The relatability we all feel to poor Toad?

Eden brought home Frog and Toad Are Friends as one of her assigned reading books, and I rejoiced when I saw the title. After consulting the Table of Contents, I had her find page 40, "A Swim." Now, it needs to be noted that Eden is a reluctant reader. She's not super confident, does a fair amount of guessing at words, and hasn't learned to love reading yet. (Yet. I hope that books like this will change her mind.) She approaches most books with an air of thinly-veiled disdain. You can almost hear her inner voice sighing, 

"Let's get this over with." 

Added to that hesitancy about reading in general, was the fact that this was a series I had read as a child. My kids carry a strong negative bias about anything they deem to be "from the 80's." If I liked it growing up, it's "sus" as Noah likes to say. Suspect. As if I couldn't possibly have a handle on what kids like. As if I had never been a child myself. Well, anyway, she began reading very doubtfully about Frog and Toad getting ready to go for a swim in the river. Toad announces that he is going behind the rocks to put on his bathing suit. And then he says,

"After I put on my bathing suit, you must not look at me until I get into the water." 

Eden paused as understanding dawned in her mind. She smiled. Looked up at me, eyes twinkling. "He doesn't want Frog to see him in his bathing suit!" She giggled. I giggled. We shared a moment. It got better as the story progressed and all the animals stick around to get a look at Toad in his bathing suit. The more he protests that he doesn't want them to see him because he thinks he looks funny in his bathing suit, the more the animals want to see him. The field mouse proclaims he wants to see too, because, "I have not seen anything funny in a long time." By the end of the story, as always, tears coursed down my cheeks in the hilarity of it all.

I don't really even know where I want to go with this post. I could talk about the unparalleled genius of some writers to capture the human condition. I could wax eloquent on the joy of sharing such a moment with my daughter who, though only seven years old, can relate to Toad too. I could go on about my love of the written word. All I know for now is that I want to lock in that memory forever and not ever let it go.

The end.