Books to Open Your Mind- Frog and Toad

As a kid I had Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobell, and took his three other books in the series out of the grammar school library frequently. 

The set is one of the most frequent gifts I give to people when they have a baby. 

And reading them were featured performances of my doing voices when my daughter was little.

That's a remarkable string of happenings considering how much I dislike the animals the main characters are based on. 

There must be something special about these books. 

Yes, they are funny. 

In fact, they are very funny.

But it's not the usual subversive or absurd comedy I like.

They're more a unity of opposites kind of funny. 

Toad is an uptight, pessimist who worries about everything.

Frog is laid back, easy going and looks on the bright side.

Bringing them together is a natural source of comedy. 

I guess there is a classic "Vaudevillian comedy team" dynamic to them, which fits in well with my tastes. 

But the appeal of the books is more than the humor.

It is the bringing them together because... 

They're friends. 

(Hence the name of one of the books) 

In spite of their differences, they are friends. 

They take care of each other. They do things for each other. 

And yes, they do laugh at each other sometimes but in a good natured way. 

Its a relationship built on enjoying each other's company, with a large dose of compassion and empathy.

Honestly, the older I get, the more I believe compassion and empathy should be the starting point of just about every human interaction at any scale.

Maybe I'm turning into a hippie in my old age,

or maybe I just had the right influences in my young age.

I read them again a little while ago when Anabelle was reorganizing her shelves. 

This time it was not to any kids, just on my own.

They made me laugh, and they gave me warm smiles. 

They're nice.

Sometimes we all need a little "nice" in our lives.

So maybe they aren't exclusively "books to open your mind."

They're "books to open your heart."

Which is at least as important, likely, very much more so. 

And sometimes reflections can be a birthday present to me.

Bonus content A:

I recently learned there was a kid aimed Off (and very briefly - three months- On) Broadway musical based on the series.

It was commissioned by Lobel's daughter, artist Adrianne Lobell. The script was by Mark Linn-Baker of Perfect Strangers, She Hulk and (personal favorite) My Favorite Year fame. He also played Toad. Frog was Jay Goede. The songs were by Robert and Willie Reale and have a definite vaudeville feel to them.

From what I could tell from the soundtrack album it really captured the flavor, humor and warm feelings of the books, with super catchy tunes that stuck in my head.

And that "Snail with the Mail" song goes way harder than it has any right to.

I've seen clips of both the Claymation episodes (back in the 1980's) and the recent traditionally animated show based on the books. They both captured the feel of the stories as well.

I guess kindness is pretty simple after all.

Bonus content B:

Voices for kids books is a family thing, including Kim with Elephant and Piggie

This may date back to Mom's occasional, out of nowhere, Doctor Seuss song and dance performances.

The voices I use-

Frog is an adjustment of my Kermit voice. 

Explanation and origin- Back in the stone age of vehicular audio, when I was single and drove a giant Ford Bronco, there was a huge ice storm while I was at work. 

It was also the day after I had the truck serviced and I forgot to replace my collection of cassettes. 

It took nearly FOUR HOURS to cover the 14 miles to get home!

The only tape I had in the car was The Best of Bert and Ernie which I heard MANY times on the drive. 

By the time I reached home, I had lost most of my sanity, but had Ernie's voice down cold from singing along with him at the top of my lungs.

This was proven the next day when sledding with the neighborhood kids. 

I broke into "Rubber Duckie" and was told by James, "Cut that out! It's too good, it's creepy." 

He also told me I slowed down the sled because I was "a load." 

Charming child.

(Sadly, and bizarrely, I have yet to get Bert's right.)

Taking Ernie's as a base, Kermit was similar, but with more exasperation and less mischievousness. 

My Frog was a far less stressed, less managerial and less organized version of Kermit.

Everyone else's speech patterns and tones came from the mass of voices I can call up at random.

Explanation and origin- Going from being a weird kid who did a lot of mimicking and role playing, to refining the ability in a college radio show means I have MANY silly voices to choose from.

Toad is my grouchy old man voice.

Explanation and origin- It was basically my regular voice but a little slower, a little deeper and a little more gravelly.

Or, in the present, my actual voice.