The Toad and the Frog and Other Fables

The Toad and the Frog and Other Fables provides an entertaining and instructive set of new fables for young readers. The ten fables bring in a range of animals like pigs, frogs, snakes, hares, moles, mice, alligators and more. The fables are not overly didactic, but they do provide some valuable lessons for life in general. Many of the settings and characters were inspired by the childhood of the author growing up on a farm. Our increasingly urban lives provide some advantages to young readers, but the lack of interaction with nature and farm animals also makes the connection to our environment more difficult. The realistic settings and actions of the animal characters recreate some of these life experiences. The realistic settings are combined with the fantasy of talking animals to provide interesting stories with something learned by the characters. The lessons are applicable to our lives and are provided to support the important formation of our life experience. The result combines entertainment with instruction. Some of life's best lessons are those learned unintentionally.