Frog Talk: A Free Online Book for Early or Challenged Readers
Thought I'd post the first draft of my early/challenged-reader children's book here. The book demonstrates the day-to-day diversity and politeness among multiple species of frogs inhabiting the same space peacefully. If frogs can do it, so can we!?
The story emphasizes the long e sound made when two or more e's are strung together: "Neep" and "Eeeeeeeeeem". The word "Ribbit" is also used numerous times, as it is commonly associated with frogs and is easy for young readers to read and pronounce.
The project was inspired by the one word everyone in my family (thinks they) can say with a Scottish accent: "G'date" ("Great" in American). I might say, "I'm making a g'date dinner tonight" or "I found your homework", to which my son would reply, "G'date!"
In Summer mornings and evenings, my backyard is filled with the sounds of frogs, who seem to be having lengthy conversations with one another. If you listen closely enough, you can almost convince yourself that some are calling human words, repeated over and over again in rhythmic intervals.
"G'date" made for a believable, if comical, frog call; so I made it the center of a short frog conversation I recited for my kids and their friends when they were young. "How you doin'" is a phrase made famous by the character Joey in the NYC-based sitcom Friends; and when you put the accent on 'Dooooin', rather than 'You', it sounds like the low call of an (undiscovered) bullfrog.
The query "How You Doooooin'?" and the answer "G'date!" soon became a common exchange in my family.
Some of the people I've shared the book with are confused by the lack of plot. "What's the point?" they ask. The point is an easy reading experience for challenged readers and one that is comic and anecdotal rather than babyish. You may not 'get it', but I'm betting your kids will be saying the phrases "How you Dooooin'?" and "G'date" as well as reading them.
On the STEM side, take note of the two frogs that say "G'date". If they are two different species (as implied by their different physical appearances), this would mean that different species of frogs can make the same call. This has not been observed scientifically, and it is doubtful that it happens. But that's the beauty of books/writing - there are no constraints or requirements to conform to what we 'know' about the world, which is all the more satisfying given the limitations of our knowledge. As for what we know about frog calls...
In most species, only male frogs call (for localization, pre-emptive defense and, most importantly, to find mates of the same species). Each species has a distinct call, though the same species may have different dialects in different regions, just like us humans.
A male frog may have a solitary call, enabling him to use less energy during times when there is no competition. During other times, when hundreds or thousands of frogs compete to be heard, the frogs work together to perform a chorus call, each frog calling successively in turn. The key to the chorus is its shared pattern, which makes it possible for everyone to call without their individual calls being drowned out. One frog’s call may be dominant and trigger the calls of responding frogs in symphony. Frogs of the same species will retune their frequencies in order to distinguish their calls from other frogs of the same species, making harmonies not unlike human singing.
Can *different* frog species actually understand one another, and is it common for them to do so? We do not yet know the answer to this question, but I'd like to think they do.
Here's a super fun link to call children to your lesson about frogs: https://youtu.be/mLaoKpYDWQY
Here's a great link for more information about frog communication and choruses, including K-4 lesson plans: https://rangerrick.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Call-of-the-Wild-K-4.pdf
Here's a fun music animation link entitled The Frog Chorus and Paul McCartney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PMiP90ntZ8
And here's a link to "The Largest Human Frog Chorus", organized by an 11-year-old Floridian to bring awareness to conservation issues: https://recordsetter.com/world-record/human-frog-chorus/17145
More fun and educational stuff at www.melissarooneywriting.com!
