Frogs, Toads and The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher

Have a beginning first grader in your life?  Two new books, The Frogs and Toads All Sang by Arnold Lobel and The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes To School by Laurie Halse Anderson and Ard Hoyt are perfect for your 6 year-old.

Arnold Lobel is the author of the most loved Frog and Toad books, including Frog and Toad are Friends, and Frog and Toad Together.  The poems in The Frogs and Toads All Sang were originally found at an estate sale, many years after Lobel passed away.  They were part of books Lobel had written and given as gifts to family friends.  His daughter, Adrianne Lobel, arranged the poems and added watercolor to her father’s pictures to create this new book.  The book is perfect for a beginning reader, or a true lover of Lobel’s Frog and Toad series.  The best poem of the bunch is “I Love To Eat” about a toad that truly loves his food.  Reading this book is a visit to an old friend and a reminder that the most simple of books can be profound.

Watch a video interview with Adrianne Lobel.

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, by Laurie Halse Anderson and Ard Hoyt, is the story of a young girl struggling with conforming to the rules of school.  Zoe Fleeferbacher has very wild hair.  Her hair does not want to follow school rules and, according to her rule oriented first grade teacher, must be controlled.  The struggle to control Zoe’s hair perfectly illustrates the challenge for many six year olds facing controlling their behavior after a fun, free summer.  It reminds them that following school rules can be a creative process and reminds teachers that non-conformist students bring many gifts to the classroom.  The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School is the perfect bedtime story to encourage and delight your child when the excitement of the first week has worn off and the confines of school rules has set in.

Both book reviews were written by Erin Lewis-Morris.