Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog

Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog by Tim Beiser

Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog is a wonderfully old-fashioned picture book.  The high quality paper and lovely watercolour illustrations by Rachel Berman make this an enchanting read.  Told in rhyme, this is the story of Bradley McGogg, who lives rather happily in his hollowed-out log until one day he realizes he is getting thin, and he must go out to find some food.  He visits his neighbours, and is offered many mouth-watering delicacies, such as ‘cheddar with chives and a peppercorn dusting’, and ‘carrots covered in honey’.  Bradley is not impressed with these offerings, and makes his excuses to avoid eating the fancy foods.  When he finally arrives back home his log is filled with bugs – ‘His house was a-crawl with a pest infestation’ – which is exactly the kind of food he was looking for all along!

This book works exceptionally well as a read-aloud, and has been enjoyed by students in many different grades in my library. It would also work well as an introduction to a unit on healthy eating or ecosystems.