Nonfiction Monday: Mystery of Darwin's Frog by Marty Crump, illustrated by Steve Jenkins and Edel Rodriguez

We've been very froggy at the library recently, so I added another frog book to our repertoire, although this is for older kids.

The Darwin's Frog has a long and fascinated history as scientists slowly learned about its peculiar habits, most notably that the male frog incubates the young in his throat pouch. The story starts with the frogs' discovery and moves from the various discoveries scientists made about the frog up to present-day research and the author's own discoveries. Additional information at the back explains more about the frog, its conservation status and includes a glossary, additional information sources, bibliography, and index.

The book is illustrated with photographs, drawings by Steve Jenkins, and portraits of scientists by Edel Rodriguez.

I will admit to being somewhat disappointed that there were no actual photographs of the frog-birthing moment, but apparently these are quite rare. It's hard to categorize this book. It's quite short - only 40 pages including the back matter - but the reading level and text density is higher, making it definitely a middle grade book. It's nicely laid out and arranged, with lots of pictures and photographs of the frogs, but it just doesn't quite reach the standards of, say, The Frog Scientists or The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs.

Verdict: If you have a lot of serious frog fans, this would be a good additional purchase. Although it is about a unique subject, there are plenty of other frog books out there and this one isn't really necessary.

ISBN: 9781590788646; Published 2013 by Boyds Mills; Purchased for the library