Chasing northern leopard frogs and spring peepers is a worthy pastime for kids. I discovered this when I was six at a lake in southwestern Michigan when I brought home an unexpected new pet from a duck pond. "Frogs: A Wildlife Handbook" is a great guide for moms and dads to help sort through what Junior brings home from his adventures.

This handbook provides the Latin name, a description, habitat, size and vocal call of each listed frog. There's a watercolor illustration of the frog, and a map of what range that frog has. You can know for sure if your find is truly a leopard frog.

More than a mere species descriptor, we read about the anatomy of frog types. Excellent diagrams of their skeletal structure, of how their tongues grab insects in mid-air, and of a tadpole metamorphosis are all highlights.

Predators and disease have their own chapters, and are worth reading. This helps put science (for nonscientists) behind the news about environmental concerns, as well as direct landowners through what's going on in their ponds.

On the fun side, we get a list of other languages' terms for 'frog'. In Hungary, you'll learn it is 'béka,' in Gaelic, 'losgann,' and in Hmong, a frog is called 'hma'.

I've read dozens of frog books for grown-ups and children, and am pleased to have read this one. While a six year-old might be overwhelmed with this one, he'll enjoy the pictures and grow into it. Everyone else will find it a useful guide for knowing one frog from another.

Anthony Trendl