Now the beloved characters and adventures from this popular line of books come to life with I Can Read Book and CDs. Each package includes a best-selling beginning-reader storybook and a lively audio recording featuring: Word-for-word narration, Music and sound effects. One version with turn-the-page signals . One version of uninterrupted reading . This selection is FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS - sealed, brand new. Reading level 2 - with help.

In 1957, Harper published its first I Can Read title, Little Bear, written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Large type, simple vocabulary, chapter-like divisions, and decorative pictures made Little Bear perfect for emerging readers?they could read the story comfortably and not feel overwhelmed by the text. Following suit came such classics as Peggy Parish's Amelia Bedelia series, Lillian Hoban's books about Arthur the monkey, and Syd Hoff's popular Danny and the Dinosaur.

Many books in this series are special in the depth of emotion evoked - Little Bear, the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel, and Daniel's Duck by Clyde Bulla, to name a few - and all are enjoyed by children of all ages. Grade 1 - Grade 3.

The inseparable Frog and Toad are introduced to readers through five wonderfully silly adventures. Like an innocent Laurel and Hardy, the two amphibians show the true meaning of friendship - Toad tells stories to Frog when Frog is sick, Frog helps search for Toad's lost button, and Frog writes a letter to Toad because he never receives any mail. These marvelous tales touch both the heart and the funny bone. Annotation Five tales recounting the adventures of two best friends - Frog and Toad. Biography During his distinguished career Arnold Lobel wrote and/or illustrated over 70 books for children. To his illustrating credit, he had a Caldecott Medal book -- Fables (1981) -- and two Caldecott Honor Books-his own Frog and Toad are Friends (1971) and Hildilid's Night by Cheli Duran Ryan (1972). To his writing credit, he had a Newbery Honor Book -- Frog and Toad Together (1973). But to his greatest credit, he had a following of literally millions of young children with whom he shared the warmth and humor of his unpretentious vision of life.

Though he was a born storyteller -- he began making up stories extemporaneously to entertain his fellow second-graders in Schenectady, New York, where he grew up in the care of his grandparents. Mr. Lobel called himself a "lucky amateur" in terms of his writing. Viewing himself as a professionally trained illustrator (he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute), he said, "I know how to draw pictures. With writing, I don't really know what I'm doing. It's very intuitive." In addition to the Frog and Toad books, Owl at Home, Mouse Tales, The Book of Pigericks, and many other popular books he created, Mr. Lobel also illustrated other writers' texts that captured his fancy. He viewed this as "something different and challenging." Often his illustrations for those books showed a different aspect of his personality and his artistic expertise, ranging from his meticulous dinosaurs in Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish to his chilling pen-and-ink drawings in Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep by Jack Prelutsky, about which Booklist wrote, "Young readers willbe amazed that the gentle Lobel of Frog and Toad fame can be so comfortably diabolic."

In 1977 Mr. Lobel and his wife, Anita, a distinguished children's book author and artist in her own right, collaborated on their first book, How the Rooster Saved the Day, chosen by School Library Journal as one of the Best Books of the Year, 1977. They then collaborated on three more books, A Treeful of Pigs, a 1979 ALA Notable Book; On Market Street, a 1982 Caldecott Honor Book; and The Rose in My Garden, a 1984 Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book. Arnold Lobel died in 1987.

 Harperfestival 0060741066 / 9780060741068
Book & CD Brand New New York, New York, U.S.A. 

Price: 12.25 USD