Jumping for Joy: Frogs, Frogs, and More Frogs!!

King Snake and his prey at EBV

One of our favorite places to visit is the East Bay Vivarium - basically, a pet store that specializes in reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids.  While we don't happen to own any of these types of animals, the Vivarium is a fantastic place to visit and observe the animals - the people that work there are quirky and incredibly knowledgeable and more than willing to educate.  On a recent visit, we asked when the next snake might feed, and the guy behind the counter excitedly exclaimed "Right now!"  We then watched a King Snake attack, suffocate, and swallow his mouse prey.  But while the snake feeding was infinitely mesmerizing, since that visit, Ben has actually been more fascinated by frogs (the Vivarium also has a beautiful collection of tree frogs and dart frogs).

My favorite: Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog

To learn more about our little friends, we traveled to our local library, where we found a lot to choose from.  Ben's nightly favorite has been Frogs by Nic Bishop. This book is filled with incredible color photos of some of the worlds most amazing frogs, along with interesting factoids about them.  Other non-fiction books about frogs we've been reading are:

• Frogs - Gail Gibbons
• All About Frogs - Ling Chung
• Nat Geo: Explore My World Frogs - Marfe Delano
• From Tadpole to Frog: Gerald Legg

And, of course, we've been reading some fun fiction featuring frog characters old and new, such as:

• Frog and Toad
• The Froggy Series
• Five Green and Specked Frogs
• Green Wilma, Frog in Space - Tedd Arnold

For quiet learning about frogs, we've also explored the following resources:

• Frog Life Cycle Coloring Sheet
• Parts of the Frog:  3-part Cards

And for something a little more messy, we've been exploring local ponds and parks, hoping to come across a few with frogs and tadpoles on the loose.  The Oakland Zoo also has a wonderful amphibian exhibit with incredible frogs, large and small.  Hoppy reading and exploring!