Froggy Plays T-Ball (Written by: Jonathan London; Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz)

photo by Phil Hawkworth www.flickr.com

*Picture book, contemporary, for children in preschool through second grade
*Froggy as the main character
*Rating: A good T-Ball story with a beloved character. This book should give kids something to relate to.

Short, short summary: Froggy has his first t-ball game, and his dad is the coach. He is excited and dreaming about his success. But playing t-ball is a little harder than dreaming about it. He has trouble hitting the ball off the tee, and he also doesn’t understand exactly what it means to catch flies. (You know how frogs love flies–the buzzing kind.) After Froggy has a little Amelia Bedelia moment toward the end of Froggy Plays T-Ball, he starts to catch on, and he is rewarded for his efforts with a hot dog and fly relish. Jonathan London has created another great Froggy book that kids are sure to love.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Many of your students or your children will have experience playing on a t-ball or soccer team like Froggy does in Froggy Plays T-Ball. Discuss with them what it is like to play one of these team sports. You can make a list of their favorite reasons to be on a sports team or things they do at practice or so on. When the discussion is over, students can draw a picture of themselves playing a sport and write a sentence about their drawing.

2. Froggy has good sportsmanship. Even though he is having difficulty playing t-ball, he has a good attitude and he keeps trying. Discuss with your students what it means to be a good sport. Make a list of characteristics of a good sport. Discuss how Froggy fits these characteristics.

3. This book has a lot of dialogue, and it is easy to see how it is punctuated and tagged. This is a great book for introducing dialogue and punctuation to your students or your child.