12/20/09

A Frog's Dream…Save Our Home

As the year ends, and before we take a short break for the holidays, we’d like to show you the new poster we’ve created to promote our cause. Proceeds from the sale of the poster will go toward amphibian conservation organizations and toward developing free and inexpensive educational materials for kids.

Poster designed by Susan Newman, Illustration © Sherry Neidigh

The poster is a unique collaboration between my partner Susan (who is a graphic designer when she isn’t saving frogs) and illustrator Sherry Neidigh. Sherry approached us after seeing our blog and offered to donate one of her illustrations for our use. We were thrilled to receive this exquisite illustration to promote our cause.

Susan played around with various ideas, but what struck her about this illustration was its dreamy quality. She came up with the text, “A Frog’s Dream….Save Our Home.” I think these words are perfect. That frog looks so content immersed in his pond, surrounded by dragonflies and lily pads.

A bit about Sherry:

Sherry has been drawing animals since she was 2 years old. She attended the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, and has worked for Hallmark Cards.

Sherry’s clients include the National Wildlife Federation (Your Big Backyard), Highlights for Children, Sylvan Dell Publishing, and NorthWord Publisher. She works in gouache, watercolor, colored pencils, airbrush, and pen and ink. Her latest book is Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk, published by Sylvan Dell Publishers. Sherry lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, outside of Greenville, with her two dogs, Harper and Bisbee. You can learn more about her by visiting her charming website.

Susan and I are so grateful for the use of Sherry’s beautiful illustration. We hope you love the poster as much as we do. Susan also designed a t-shirt with the illustration. Both are available in our store.

Happy Holidays!

12/17/09

Update on the Frog-O-Sphere Controversy

In September, we wrote a post about Frog-O-Spheres, a Brookstone kit (not sold in pet stores) that contains live African dwarf frogs. These kits, marketed as educational products, confine two aquatic frogs to a small aquarium, without shelter or a place to hide.

These aquatic frogs actually need a gallon of water per frog in order to thrive, and it is recommended that they have some sort of water heating, as well as artificial light to simuate night and day because they are nocturnal. But the Frog-O-Spheres’ gimmick is that they are a complete “ecosystem” and have all that the frogs will need to stay healthy. In fact, if one part of the “ecosystem” doesn’t function (for example, if the snails that are supposed to eat the algae die), the frogs suffer.

Some people who buy these kits do take the time to learn how to care for their frogs properly and the frogs may live for a few years or longer. But many people purchase the kits as an office decoration or as a cute gift for kids, not unlike the hermit crabs people buy at the seashore in the summer. Without proper care, however, the animals usually die within a month or two.

In November, after PETA received numerous complaints about the Frog-O-Spheres, they went undercover at Wild Creation, the company that supplies the kits to Brookstone. They found the following:

Hundred of frogs crammed into bins with dirty, unfiltered water.
Frogs that were rarely fed. Because the frogs were starving, they were feeding on each other and some customers were complaining about frogs with missing limbs.
No training was provided to employees. Live frogs were left for dead, tossed on the floor, or thrown in the trash.
Frogs suspected of being sick were mistakenly shipped to customers instead of being properly quarantined. Frogs were plucked from tubs containing fungus-covered decomposing frogs and were also shipped to customers.

In addition, the Center for Disease Control reported a week ago that a national salmonella outbreak afflicting 48 people in 25 states was connected to African dwarf frog pets.

Please see the PETA website for more information, including a film shot at Wild Creation, and suggestions for ways you can take action to urge Brookstone to stop selling Frog-O-Spheres.

A healthy frog from frogworld.net

12/13/09

Happy Holidays and THINK GREEN!

At this time of year, we’d like to stop and say thank you to all the visitors we’ve had, and to those who’ve joined our cause.

While you’re shopping for loved ones in the next week or so, we hope you’ll remember all the great organizations that need your help in this challenging economic climate.

HOLIDAY-2009-FrG-blog

12/9/09

A Frog and Toad Holiday

Continuing the theme of frog gifts, I received a wonderful gift from Susan—the children’s book The Frogs and Toads All Sang, by Arnold Lobel with color by Adrianne Lobel (HarperCollins, 2009):

This little book of rhymes has the same droll and slightly absurd humor of the classic Frog and Toad books. Originally handmade by Arnold Lobel as a gift for a friend, this was the first book he wrote about frogs and toads. His daughter Adrianne writes that these “private sketches, not meant for anyone’s eyes but those of friends, have a confidence and liveliness that anticipates his mature work in books such as the Frog and Toad series…”

Here’s an illustration from the book:

frogs-sang

Andrianne Lobel, a stage designer by profession, colored each sketch using watercolors and dyes. I love the drawings and the vibrant watercolors. I like the poems too:

Bright Green Frog

A bright green frog

With slippery skin

Played waltzes

On a violin.

But while he played

With skill and grace,

He wore a frown

Upon his face.

“I fiddle well.”

He sighed.

“And yet…

I’d rather play

The clarinet.”

If you don’t have copies of the original Frog and Toad books, this boxed set contains Frog and Toad All Year, Frog and Toad Are Friends, and Frog and Toad Together.

Of course, you can also get carried away and buy the plush characters, too. I’m not sure I can resist buying the plush versions of my old friends Frog and Toad:

12/3/09

Frog Gifts for the Holidays

The holidays are upon us, and we wanted to highlight some of our favorite froggy gifts.

Frog calendar

A portion of the proceeds of this calendar go to the World Wildlife Fund.

For baby

From Angel Dear, a curved frog pillow for baby. You have to feel this pillow to believe it-—it’s incredibly soft. I found this in a little boutique and I liked it so much I bought one even though I don’t know anyone who is having a baby anytime soon!

The pillow is machine washable with a removable cover.

14″ square, cashmere-soft, machine washable frog blankie

Adopt a Frog

Adopt a frog from the World Wildlife Fund. For $25, your gift recipient will receive an adoption certificate, species information card, and photo. For $50, they’ll receive a bucket of frogs, an adoption certificate, species information card, photo, and gift bag.

Children’s Books

Big Frog Can’t Fit In by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2009)

Big Frog is big. Quite big. So big this book can’t hold her. But with a lot of help from some good friends, Big Frog will fit in just fine.

Filled with unique sturdy pop-ups, and suitable for little hands, this new pop-up book will appeal to Mo Willems fans old and new.

Books for adults

The Lilypad List: 7 Steps to the Simple Life by Marian Van Eyk McCain

During the holiday season, especially, we need to be reminded about what is truly important in our lives. McCain uses frogs as a metaphor for living a simple but meaningful life. She writes, “Looking back, I think frogs have always been around calling to me to notice them. I am glad I am noticing them now and listening to their small, quiet messages. They have lots to teach me.”

Most of us know we need to simplify our lives, slow down, buy less stuff, and live more lightly on the Earth. But McCain, a psychotherapist, helps us to understand why we feel we need to acccumulate so much stuff. Each chapter opens with a charming drawing of a frog.

Frog T-Shirts

Show your love of amphibians by wearing this fun t-shirt from FROGS ARE GREEN. A portion of the profits go toward supporting Amphibian Ark and other amphibian conservation organizations. The rest of the profits will go toward creating programs and educational materials to support our cause.

Stocking stuffers

Wear the GREEN! The FROGS ARE GREEN wristband, that is!

When my sons were young, I loved to give them Dover’s inexpensive little activity books ($1.50 each). Here is one–a stained glass frog coloring book. Note: although the link below is to Amazon, it can also be bought directly from Dover Publications.

Ecowear – Frog Pendant from Future Oxygen. This company offers 100 % biodegradable cards and lovely Frog pendants. Both the cards and pendants can be planted into the ground (the pendant contains flower and grass seeds). For every pendant sold they will donate $1 to benefit the Save the Reef campaign.

Holiday Sleeper Gift

The Calls of Frogs and Toads (with CD) by Lang Elliott

One Christmas, I gave my husband a book of bird calls–you find the bird in the book, press a button, and hear the bird’s call. He was a little underwhelmed by this gift! But over the years, we’ve used that book so many times. (It really captured our cats’ interest, too!). So in that spirit, I offer this frog call book as a sleeper holiday gift. Maybe on Christmas day after you’re tired of listening to holiday music, you can listen to great frog choruses instead!

12/1/09

Last Call for Frogs: A Chorus of Colors

In case you’re planning a holiday visit to “the City” (what we locals call Manhattan), we want to remind you to go see the exhibit Frogs: A Chorus of Colors at the American Museum of Natural History before it closes January 3. This traveling exhibit from Clyde Peelings Reptiland is fun and informative, even for the youngest kids. The 200 live frogs are in realistic natural habitats, complete with rock ledges, waterfalls, and live plants. Some of the frogs, especially the poison dart frogs, are amazingly colorful and look like little jewels.

Susan visited the exhibit again with her family and took some photographs of the frogs. I enjoyed the exhibit so much, I’m also going again before the frogs leave New York City.

Argentine Horned Frog at the AMNH, photo by Susan Newman

We received a behind-the-scenes video from the museum of the feeding and prepping of the frogs:

The exhibit is traveling to MUZEO in Anaheim, California, in February. If you’re planning a trip to Disneyland, definitely take a detour and see the frogs, too!

Frogs Are Green

Environmental Organization Helping to Bring Awareness About Frog Decline Around The World

Author Archives: Susan