Сестра призналась брату, что выдумала великого лягушку, чтобы защитить его детское воображение

The Great Frog by Katie Palazzola; illus. by the author Primary    Porter/Holiday    40 pp. 5/26    9780823459780    $18.99 Kit and her younger brother, Peedie, find a mass of frog eggs in the pond near their secret spot under the oak tree. When it’s time to go back inside, Peedie wants to stay to protect the eggs, but Kit persuades him to leave by spinning a story about the Great Frog, who “looks after the little ones.” In subsequent visits to the pond, Kit tells Peedie about the Great Frog’s horse, Tarnation, and their castle on the moon. Kit and Peedie are cartoon-style figures foregrounded against lush, textured mixed-media spreads depicting the natural world and Kit’s flights of fantasy, suggesting the children’s sense of what is real and most important to them. The perspective of the compositions zooms in and out, up and down, adding drama to a quiet yet surprisingly moving story about siblings centered, together and safe, in a wild, active world. Kit totes around a journal of science notes; she doesn’t fully understand the world, but she’s working to learn. In the end, when Kit realizes how invested Peedie has become in her story of the Great Frog, she admits she fabricated the whole thing. Peedie still wants to know when the Great Frog will show up, though, because “lots of true things are stories.” This tender offering, featuring a nuanced sibling relationship, concludes with information on a frog’s life cycle and a note from the author. From the July/August 2026 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.