Touring Picture Book - In the Swamp by the Light of the Moon & Origami Frogs

A quick turnaround since out last Touring Picture Book post but when there are such wonderful books to share it's no wonder we had to get this one out to you quickly! If you're new to the Touring Picture Book: welcome! The team love to share a fun new release and a follow-up activity you can do with your children or a connection that we have made to the book that you might find helpful to think about.

And it has taken us a whole month to come up with the next couple of books as there have been so many interesting new releases already this year! But we are starting with an inspirational one!

A little frog sat in the night-time air 

in the swamp by the light of the moon. 

He sat all alone in the little green pond, 

singing his little frog tune.

But all by himself his voice was so quiet 

so he stopped and he let out a sigh.

"Singing alone is not much fun, 

what a lonely wee froggy am I."

In the Swamp by the Light of the Moon by Frann Preston-Gannon is the story of a little frog who is singing to himself in the swamp one night but he finds that his song just doesn't seem right. It's incomplete. He is missing something - or someone? So he invites the other animals to join in. And so in pour the beats of the crocodile, the melodies of the mice, the harmonies of the fish, the tones of the birds but still something is missing. The tiny voice of the bug. But bug feels that her voice is too small and not pretty. So frog has to convince her that he voice is beautiful.

And as the song spread all through the swamp,

each voice blended in with the rest.

Now everyone knew that the song of the swamp

needed everyone's voice to sound best.

To describe this book as a lyrical picture book just doesn't seem to do it justice! With a message of inclusivity, that all voices - no matter how small - should be heard, this is a picture book that will resonate with readers of all ages. And I love that the little bug (who turns out to shine a light on the problem!) is on every single page - probably ignored by older readers but definitely something little children will spot! And doesn't that support the message too. The colours in this book are incredibly evocative of a beautiful swamp (if there is such a thing as a beautiful swamp) with a fairytale-like quality. The characters are enchanting and will have your little ones wanting to join in with the song.  (If you are looking for ideas on how to do this check out my fellow TPB bloggers linked at the bottom of this post.) An absolutely outstanding and heart-warming picture book!

Origami Frogs

When I was in Girl Guides I learned how to make an origami frog and it's a skill that has stuck with me - I can still make them by heart! And what's more they are a great little trick to have up your sleeve with children as this particular frog has a folding mechanism that means he can literally jump across the table - meaning you can have frog jump competitions etc. But I've never written a tutorial like this before so I've taken lots of photos to help and hope I can make it clear for you.

1. You need a square piece of paper.


2. Fold it in half.

3. Fold it again to make a small square but then undo that fold so you have a nice clean crisp. From here on we work on the top half and then the bottom half to make things simpler.

Are you still with me?


4. On the top half of your rectangle, fold the top left hand corner half way, and crease. Unfold it. And repeat on the top right corner. When you unfold you should have a cross at the top.

5. This is the trickiest step. Put your left finger under the left triangle and your right finger under the right triangle. Push them together and downwards to create a fold. Then flatten the top piece to make a triangle. Press all these creases nice and firm. That's the top part (almost) finished.

If you managed that you're over the worst!!

6. Working on the bottom square now. Fold it in half upwards.

7. Fold the left and right edges in towards the middle. This should make an arrow shape.

8. Fold the bottom square upwards in half again.

9. Fold the top rectangle edges over to make two small triangle shapes. Just watch here as the paper gets quite thick!

10. Gently pull these edges outwards to make a boat shape.

11. Fold those edges down to make the legs of the frog.

12. Fold the ends of each 'limb' to create feet for your frog.

13. Fold the frog's bottom all the way up so that it covers the head using the existing crease. Then create a fold in the middle of the bottom to create a hinge that you can use to flip your frog.

14. Flip him over, pull back on the spring and watch him hop.

I hope that all makes sense and the photos help explain my instructions! And you have a lovely little jumping frog! You can let the kids add eyes and decorate them and then have a jumping competition.

If you did manage to follow those ramblings please do tag me in your froggy photos!!

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A post shared by Kim & the BookBairns (@bookbairn) on Mar 15, 2019 at 2:40am PDT

Check out the other activities happening across the Touring Picture Book Club and pop over to our Twitter to be in with a chance of winning a copy of In the Swamp by the Light of the Moon of your very own!

Acorn Books - Drawing Activity with Author-Illustrator Frann Preston-Gannon

Along Came Poppy - Exploring Sounds

Mamma Filz - Musical Shakers

And look out for our next touring picture book which will be Sunflower Shoots and Muddy Boots by Katherine Halligan & Grace Easton.

And if you've popped over from one of the other fabulous blogs - hello! And our regular readers - hello to you too! We would love to hear if you have any signed books that you love!

Happy Reading!

Mummy, BookBairn and the Touring Picture Book Team!

Disclaimer: all four bloggers were sent copies of the book after we reached out to the publisher and requested them and we were provided with an additional copy for the giveaway. Words and opinions are each of our own. 

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