cover image One Gaping Wide-Mouthed Hopping Frog

One Gaping Wide-Mouthed Hopping Frog

Leslie Tryon. Atheneum Books, $14.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-689-31785-9

In this sprightly counting rhyme--derived from an 18th-century verse--imagination and creativity spring from Tryon's detail-packed pages as nimbly as her eponymous amphibian. The creator of Albert, the goose who played a letter-perfect carpenter in Albert's Alphabet and impressario in Albert's Play , has populated that fowl's hometown of Pleasant Valley with an animal cast that would do Marlin Perkins proud. Stepping off with a flawless jete in front of the post office, the mail-carrying frog's first delivery is to a sour-faced bulldog, seen emerging with pastries from Sir C's (Circe's?) Bakery--``2 birthday cakes for a very old dog.'' Others glimpsed in this bustling burg include ``4 ostriches who like to jog'' (in color-coordinated outfits that must be seen to be disbelieved), five puppies at Mrs. Golden's Day Care (presided over, of course, by a golden retriever), and, in a glorious overhead shot, 10 peacocks cavorting variously in a biplane, hot air balloon and parachutes. In the best Hitchcock tradition, Alfred (the goose, not the filmmaker) makes two cameo appearances (hint: one is a photographic likeness). Humorous touches abound in these softly colored, practically full-page illustrations, as Tryon demonstrates a remarkable attention to the minutiae of small-town life. Characters frequently reappear, pursuing their diverse activities with perfectly concentrated continuity. Even the book's jacket is a model of drollery in this work of unalloyed joy. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)