A Classroom Guide to In Memory of Gorfman T. Frog by Gail Donovan
April 1, 2009
Gr 3-6-Joshua Tree Hewitt loves to talk, and that leads to trouble at school and home. After getting angry at his mother, he storms outside to discover a leopard frog that has three back legs. How can the fifth grader resist taking it to school? His teacher and class are intrigued by Josh's discovery, and they research more information about amphibians. Sadly after all the excitement, the frog dies, which leaves Josh extremely upset. His relationship with his parents, grandparents, sister, and classmates grows stronger through this ordeal, and solving the mystery of why Gorfman had three back legs helps Josh deal with his grief. Plot development is quick, and children will relate to the protagonist and his classmates, as they act like typical fifth graders."Rachel Artley, Watertown Elementary School, TN"
Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 15, 2009
Grades 4-6 After fifth-grader Josh Hewitt finds a five-legged frog in a boggy area near his backyard, he takes it to school, where it sickens and dies. Josh investigates and discovers that the frogs extra leg may be caused by contamination in itspond, but before he can get the frogs body to an interested scientist, it is confiscated by the school principal. Pedersons full-page illustrations ramp up the comedy and action, and Donovan ably shows how the school world of kids is separate and little understood by the adults. Joshua, a talkative kid who has been pegged as something of a troublemaker, is also convincingly portrayed. A subplot involving Joshs efforts to learn about the personality of his birth father seems tacked on, but this is a minor quibble with a novel that many young readers will enjoy as much for its picture of grade-school life as for its ecological message.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2009
Josh finds a sickly five-legged frog near his house. After the animal dies, Josh tries to take it to a scientist to find out whether the pond is contaminated--but is thwarted by his principal who takes the frog away. This humorous story featuring the exploits of a realistically mischievous fifth grader, shown in occasional black-and-white illustrations, doesn't sink under its environmentalist message.
(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)