“What if Frog is being chased by a big animal with many sharp teeth? What if he is being eaten up?” cried Toad.
Cozy random passages from Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books. Posts auto-delete.
45,242 followers 0 following 272 posts
view profile on Bluesky
“What if Frog is being chased by a big animal with many sharp teeth? What if he is being eaten up?” cried Toad.
“Frog, can you be as wonderful as this?” said Toad as he danced all over the stage. There was no answer. Toad looked out into the theater. Frog was so small that he could not be seen or heard.
“Frog,” cried Toad, “can you do tricks like this?” “No,” peeped Frog, who looked very, very small.
“Now I can save tomorrow for something that I really want to do.” “What is that?” asked Frog. “Tomorrow,” said Toad, “I can just take life easy.”
“But, Toad,” cried Frog, “you will miss all the fun!”
“What are you laughing at, Frog?” said Toad. “I am laughing at you, Toad,” said Frog, “because you DO look funny in your bathing suit.” “Of course I do,” said Toad. Then he picked up his clothes and went home.
“Here is your button!” cried Frog.
They came to the top of a mountain. The shadow of a hawk fell over them.
“Frog,” asked Toad, “did this really happen?” “Maybe it did, and maybe it didn’t,” said Frog.
A turtle came along the riverbank. “Frog, tell that turtle to go away,” said Toad. “I do not want him to see me in my bathing suit when I come out of the river.”
More and more of the ice cream was melting. It dripped down on Toad’s jacket. It splattered on his pants and on his feet. “Where is the path?” cried Toad. “I cannot see!”
“The people in this book are brave,” said Toad. “They fight dragons and giants, and they are never afraid.” “I wonder if we are brave,” said Frog.
Toad walked faster. Many drops of melting ice cream flew through the air. They fell down on Toad’s head. “I must hurry back to Frog!” he cried.
Frog and Toad jumped into the water. They swam all afternoon. Frog swam fast and made big splashes. Toad swam slowly and made smaller splashes.
Toad was asleep, and he was having a dream. He was on stage, and he was wearing a costume. Toad looked out into the dark. Frog was sitting in the theater.
“I am thinking about tomorrow,” said Toad. “I am thinking about all of the many things that I will have to do.” “Yes,” said Frog, “tomorrow will be a very hard day for you.”
Frog closed his eyes when Toad came out from behind the rocks
“Today you look very green even for a frog,” said Toad. “Get into my bed and rest.”
Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf. “There,” said Frog. “Now we will not eat any more cookies.” “But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box,” said Toad. “That is true,” said Frog.
“That kite is junk,” said the robins. “Throw it away and go home.” Toad ran back to Frog. “This kite is junk,” he said. “I think we should throw it away and go home.” “Toad,” said Frog, “we need one more try.”
“Shut up!” screamed Toad. “Frog, Frog, where have you gone?”
Toad walked up and down on the porch for a long time. But he could not think of a story to tell Frog.
Frog came running down the hill. He pulled Toad out of the snow.
Frog and Toad were sad for a while.
“This is my sad time of day. It is the time when I wait for the mail to come. It always makes me very unhappy.”
“Good,” said Toad.
He got out of bed and had something to eat. Then Toad crossed out: Eat Breakfast.
“Yes,” said Frog. “If a running try did not work, and a running and waving try did not work, and a running, waving, and jumping try did not work, I knew that a running, waving, jumping, and shouting try just had to work.”
Frog and Toad went out to fly a kite. They went to a large meadow where the wind was strong. “Our kite will fly up and up,” said Frog. “It will fly all the way up to the top of the sky.”
Frog and Toad waited a long time.
Toad ran across the meadow again. He waved the kite over his head. He jumped up and down. The kite went up in the air and crashed into the grass.
“Hello,” said Frog. “Look at my list of things to do,” said Toad. “Oh,” said Frog, “that is very nice.” Toad said, “My list tells me that we will go for a walk.”
When Toad got home, he said, “Tomorrow I will get to work and rake all of my own leaves.”
“I walked down a patch in the woods until I came to a corner. I went around the corner to see if spring was on the other side.” “And was it?” asked Toad. “No,” said Frog. “There was only a pine tree, three pebbles and some dry grass.”
“Toad,” said Frog, “your pants and jacket are lying on the floor.” “Tomorrow,” said Toad from under the covers.
Frog went back to Toad’s house. Toad was still fast asleep.
Frog pushed a coat down over the top of Toad. Frog pulled snowpants up over the bottom of Toad.
“What is will power?” asked Toad. “Will power is trying hard NOT to do something that you really want to do,” said Frog.
Plop! The sled dived into the snow.
Then Frog ran back to Toad’s house. Toad was in bed, taking a nap.
Toad ran back to Frog. “Frog,” said Toad, “this kite will note fly. I give up.”
“Never mind,” said Frog.
Frog knocked at Toad’s door. “Toad, wake up,” he cried. “Come out and see how wonderful the winter is!” “I will not,” said Toad. “I am in my warm bed.”
Frog and Toad stayed on the island all afternoon. They ate wet sandwiches without iced tea. They were two close friends sitting alone together.
“Get into my bed and rest,” said Toad. Toad made Frog a cup of hot tea.
“I am feeling much better now. Toad,” said Frog. “I do not think I need a story anymore.” “Then you get out of bed and let me get into it,” said Toad, “because now I feel terrible.”
There was only some wet mud and a lizard who was chasing his tail.
Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Toad looked at the sunshine coming through the window. “Frog,” he said, “I am so glad that you came over.” “I always do,” said Frog.
Toad shouted and waved, but it was no use. Frog sat on the island. He did not see or hear Toad.
“I am sorry,” said Frog.
“I found my mother and father,” said Frog. “We came safely home.”
“Yes,” said Frog, reaching for a cookie, “we need will power.” “What is will power?” asked Toad.
Toad fell into the pond. He sank to the bottom and came up again. “Drat,” said Toad. “All of our sweet, cold ice cream has washed away.”
It turned out to be a very pleasant day after Toad’s birthday.
“No,” said Frog. “There was only some wet mud and a lizard who was chasing his tail.”
“This house is a mess. I have so much work to do,” said Toad. Frog looked through the window. “Toad, you are right,” said Frog. “It is a mess.” Toad pulled the covers over his head.
Toad went to the store. He bought two big ice-cream cones. Toad licked one of the codes. “Frog likes chocolate best,” said Toad, “and so do I.”
“Happy birthday,” said Frog.
That night when Toad went to bed he thought the biggest thoughts that he could think. Toad thought about giant sunflowers. He thought about tall oak trees. He thought about high mountains covered with snow.
Then Toad began to bang his head against the wall. “Why are you banging your head against the wall?” asked Frog. Soon Toad was at Frog’s front door.
Toad was lying in bed. He had pulled all the covers over his head.
“Our kite will fly up and up,” said Frog. “It will fly all the way up to the top of the sky.”
A wind came. It blew across the land. The pile of leaves that Frog had raked for Toad blew everywhere. The pile of leaves that Toad had raked for Frog blew everywhere.
Toad went to the store. He bought two big ice-cream cones. Toad licked one of the codes. “Frog likes chocolate best,” said Toad, “and so do I.”
“I am not hungry now,” said the Dark Frog. “I have eaten too many tasty frog children. But after I jump rope one hundred times, I will be hungry again. Then I will eat YOU!”
“Hurry!” said Frog. “We will run and catch it.” “No!” shouted Toad. “I cannot do that.” “Why not?” asked Frog. “Because,” wailed Toad, “running after my list in not one of the things that I wrote on my list of things to do!”
“When I was small,” said Frog, “my mother and father and I went out for a picnic. On the way home we lost our way. My mother was worried. ‘We must get home,’ she said. ‘We do not want to meet the old Dark Frog.’
“I am happy. I am very happy. This morning when I woke up I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you as a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is.”
He put the hat in a warm place to dry. It began to shrink. The hat grew smaller and smaller.
“Please,” cried Frog, “please go away!” But no one went away.
Frog and Toad jumped into the water. They swam all afternoon. Frog swam fast and made big splashes. Toad swam slowly and made smaller splashes.
Toad went to the woods. Frog was not there. He went to the meadow. Frog was not there. Toad went down to the river. There was Frog. He was sitting on an island by himself.
Frog and Toad sat close by the fire. They were scared. The teacups shook in their hands. They were having the shivers. It was a good, warm feeling.
TOAD WILL NOW PLAY THE PIANO VERY WELL.
Good night, Frog.
Frog was in his garden. Toad came walking by. “What a fine garden you have, Frog,” he said. “Yes,” said Frog. “It is very nice, but it was hard work.”
Toad read a long story to his seeds.
“I will read the seeds a story,” said Toad. “Then they will not be afraid.” Toad read a long story to his seeds.
Toad looked at the ground again.
Frog tore off the April page too.
“I will tell you a story while we are waiting,” said Frog. “Oh good,” said Toad.
Toad got to Frog’s house. He looked in the window. “Good,” said Toad. “Frog is not home. He will never guess who raked his leaves.”
Toad ran to Frog’s house. “Frog, Frog!” he cried. “All those big thoughts have made my head much larger. Now I can wear your present!”
“I went back home. When I got there,” said Frog, “I found another corner. It was the corner of my house.” “Did you go around it?” asked Toad. “I went around that corner, too,” said Frog.
That night Frog and Toad were both happy.
Frog worked hard. He raked the leaves into a pile. Soon Toad’s lawn was clean.
Toad wrote on a piece of paper: A LIST OF THINGS TO DO TODAY. Then he wrote: WAKE UP
One morning Toad sat in bed. “I have many things to do,” he said. “I will write them all down on a list so that I can remember them.”
Frog poured some water on the hat.
Then Frog said, “Toad, here is what you must do. Tonight when you go to bed, you must think some very big thoughts. Those big thoughts will make your head grow larger. In the morning your new hat may fit.” “What a good idea,” said Toad.
Then Toad went into the house and stood on his head. “Why are you standing on your head?” asked Frog.
“Toad said, “Frog, you are looking quite green.” “But I always look green,” said Frog. “I am a frog.”
“Frog,” said Toad, “Where are you?” There was still no answer. “Frog, what have I done?” cried Toad.
“What if something terrible has happened?” said Toad. “What if Frog has fallen into a deep hole and cannot get out. I will never see him again!”
Frog looked out of the window. The snail was not there yet.
Toad stayed in the bed, and Frog stayed in the closet. They stayed there for a long time, just feeling very brave together.
A crow flew nearby. “Hello, Crow,” shouted Toad.
