Review: There Is A Frog In My Sleeping Bag by Susan Clymer

Okay. I confess. I could not resist that cover and all of the nostalgic vibes it brought back. Of being a kid and ordering a cheap paperback from a Scholastic catalogue about other kids doing things that were simultaneously ordinary and ever-so-slightly extraordinary. Plus the title mentions frogs and I like frogs.

There's a Frog In My Sleeping Bag is a stand-alone story that forms part of a loosely linked series of books about the kids in a third grade class who all have adventures that somehow feature animals. It tells the story of Janna, a lively girl who struggles with the fact that her Spanish mother has raised both her and her younger brother to be fluent in both English and Spanish. But, enough of that. Janna is looking forward to the school camp ... where she finds herself in a whole lot of trouble and as the victim of a number of pranks. Including the aforementioned frog in her sleeping bag. 

This was a lot of fun. The book was published well, some time ago, but the themes of camping and animals and the lack of references to technology means that the story still translates well and should feel relatable to kids today. Janna is a fun and relatable kid who doesn't always get things right.

Recommended.


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