Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert is Scared of Frogs
Frank and Bert take a toy boat to a local pond in the hope of sailing it there. On this occasion the duo successfully gets their boat sailing, but alas – a frog gets on board! This story focuses on fears and coming to terms with them, as Bert is afraid of frogs and their movement and noise unsettle him. Facing the fear, a plan is concocted to get the boat back by making frog sounds to draw the frog away.
While this doesn’t quite work, it results in lots of shared laughter and the end of their fear. The final image is of a group of frogs on board the boat, showing the shift in terms of Frank and Bert’s attitudes as the frogs are now partners in their games.
The pencil and pen drawings use a realistic palette of colours which make the activities relatable even though the characters are anthropomorphic. This is a very sweet and gently funny picturebook part of a series exploring the friendship between a fox and a bear. Most of the narratives across the series take their themes from the games and activities that the two do together. In showing what Frank and Bert do together, the book offers a positive model of how friends can support each other.
