A Boy, a Dog, a Frog, and a Friend (A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog)

This continuation of Mayer' series allows a language learner to continue to develop basic storytelling skills in the target language. It has new additions to the plot that facilitate further vocabulary development while providing many opportunities to use familiar vocabulary in new ways. This is particularly useful for advancing and learning grammatical structures through practice. Mercer Mayer's series of books are not only great for Children who are beginning to speak, they are also fantastic tools for language learning. Wordless books allow a language learner and their language helper to learn vocabulary and construct stories together in the target language. It is great for vocabulary consolidation, grammar development, and the development of storytelling skills.

I love this book and I'm a grown-up! The detailed pictures give you lots to look for, lots to see, and lots of story but without any words! For children who are too young to read or who find reading hard this is such a fun way to enjoy a story and learn to see detail. You can even sit and enjoy a story together without talking! The story is full of action and emotion even though it's not animated. It's funny for both grown-ups and children. There are distinct characters, plot, tension/conflict, theme . . . There are surprises. Even a very young child can flip the pages and tell himself the story at naptime or in the car. There are also many layers to this story. Lots to talk about! If you're an author or illustrator, the Mayers are definately illustrator/story tellers to learn from.

I gave this book to friends with a two and a half year old. He loves it. In the beginning mom and dad "read" it to him and, of course, their stories were different which delighted him. And now he makes up his own stories.

This review is in response to a previous reviewer's comments that she did not realize that the book was wordless. She gave the impression that she was disappointed by receiving a wordless book, which her nephew cannot "read." I agree that it should be more clear that this book is wordless, but I would encourage you not to discount it on this basis. The book is very funny, and wordless books help children develop linguistic and narrative skills. Have the child "read" the book to you, or his parents. You can also tell the story to him at exactly his linguistic level (or slightly above it), not with the one-size-fits-all vocabulary and syntax of other children's books. It would be great if you could notice where he struggles in his descriptions when reading the book, and then expand upon his attempts the next time you read it to him. If you give it a chance, you might like a wordless book.. and so might your nephew.

i grew up with these books. When i was a child my mom would take me to the library and i could not wait to get them. Every week i would come home and look at the pictures and tell my own stories and even come up with new adventures for the boy and his frog. i can not wait for my son and daughter to open them up and begin their imagination adventure. THe pictures are so cute the trouble that frog gets into with the boy is too funny. For children with great imaginations and love to read but can't yet on their own let the adventures begin.