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City Dog, Country Frog
City Dog, Country Frog
City Dog, Country Frog
by Mo Willems
Illustration by Jon Muth

With poignant text and expressive watercolors, two Caldecott Honorees present a heartfelt reflection on the natural course of friendship - and life. In spring, when City Dog runs free in the country for the first time, he spots Country Frog sitting on a rock, waiting for a friend. In summer, they meet again and play City Dog games. Through the seasons, whenever City Dog visits the country he runs straight for Country Frog's rock. In winter, things change for City Dog and Country Frog. Come spring, friendship blooms again, a little different this time.

Age: 2 Year-olds | Title: City Dog, Country Frog  |  Author: Mo Willems  |  Publisher: Hyperion Books

With poignant text and expressive watercolors, two Caldecott Honorees present a heartfelt reflection on the natural course of friendship - and life. In spring, when City Dog runs free in the country for the first time, he spots Country Frog sitting on a rock, waiting for a friend. In summer, they meet again and play City Dog games. Through the seasons, whenever City Dog visits the country he runs straight for Country Frog's rock. In winter, things change for City Dog and Country Frog. Come spring, friendship blooms again, a little different this time.

City Dog, Country Frog is a touching tale of unlikely friends who effortlessly saw past their differences and taught one another all of their favorite games. The pictures are vibrant water colors on pencil sketches depicting all four seasons in their full glory. The pictures brilliantly attribute detail in the exact places needed to bring reality to the scene; Country Frog's eyes glimmer in the sunlight, and City Dog's facial expression shows his excitement with a panting tongue, raised eyebrows, and shinny wet nose. Short, poetic verses roll off the tongue smoothly with an ample amount of internal rhyme and slant rhyme. Although your little one won't know what these rhyming techniques are, they will surely appreciate the harmony and flow they create. The lines also feature enjambment (when a sentence straddles between two lines), encouraging the reader to continue by constantly rolling them over into the next line.

Dialogue between City Dog and Country Frog allow parents an opportunity to add great fun to the reading. Watch your little one giggle when you use a deep throaty voice for Country Frog! Also, feel free to act out the games the protagonists play together; "Country Frog's games involved jumping and splashing and croaking" and "City Dog's games involved sniffing and fetching and barking." The friends also play remembering games in the fall. Try playing a remembering game with your little one - do they remember their favorite part of the book? Do they remember what they had for breakfast?

My two-year-old friend Kyle's favorite picture was the last page of the Spring section, where City Dog is swimming and only the tip of his tail, his nose, and the top of his head (where Country Frog sits happily) are above the water. My favorite picture is the page introducing Fall. The vivid orange leafs above Country Frog's sparking eyes looks impressively life-like to me. Is it strange that this book brought tears to my eyes? The story of friendship, combined with City Dog's expressive face when frog is not there waiting for him at in the winter tore at my heartstrings. But I promise, it does have a happy ending.

--Audra

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