Day 94: Frog and Toad are Friends

Oh, how I love Frog and Toad!  These books are some of my absolute favorites from my childhood, and I love reading them to my own children as much as I loved listening to them as a little girl.  Arnold Lobel's classic Frog and Toad books are part of the "I Can Read" series, though I have found my son has enjoyed them since he was about two years old.  We also recently got a cd read-along version of this out from the library, which has been fabulous for summer trips in the car. (We definitely need to get some more audio books!)  We love all of the Frog and Toad books, but this particular one, Frog and Toad are Friends, contains one of my all-time favorite stories of friendship, "The Letter."  Toad is feeling particularly sad one day because he never gets any mail.  Frog visits with him for a while trying to cheer him up, but they spend most of their time just sitting on the porch feeling sad together.  Suddenly, Frog has the perfect idea.  He rushes home to write his dear friend, Toad, a letter.  When he is done, he happily addresses the envelope and asks a neighborhood snail to deliver it for him.  Then he rushes back to Toad's house to wait for the mail.  Of course, snail mail takes a rather long time -- 4 days, in fact -- but Frog's simple act of friendship is enough to make anyone smile... especially Toad.  And I just love what his letter says: "Dear Toad, I am glad that you are my best friend.  Your best friend, Frog."  It's a wonderful story that captures the true spirit of friendship, and offers the gentle reminder to all of us that the world can always use more random acts of kindness, even towards our closest of friends.  Other stories in this collection include "Spring," "The Story," "A Lost Button" (another favorite), and "A Swim."  If Frog and Toad have not yet made their way into your reading rotation, look for them the next time you are at the library.  Their stories are true classics in every meaning of the word.