Frog and toad true green friends will leap into the hearts of any reader beginning or advanced through rhyme and repetition of high frequency words such as said lobel crafts a text that is predictable but not without surprises and highly accessible to the beginning reader tasteful and simple the illustrations do not overpower the text instead they become more prominent where the text becomes unpredictable for example when frog is sick and asks toad to tell him a story toad . Frog and toad are friends is an american childrens picture book written and illustrated by arnold lobel and published by harper row in 1970 it inaugurated the frog and toad series whose four books completed by lobel comprise five easy to read short stories each it was a caldecott honor book or runner up for the american library association caldecott medal which recognizes the years best illustration in an american childrens picture book. Frog and toad are friends is a level two i can read book geared for kids who read on their own but still need a little help the classic frog and toad stories by arnold lobel have won numerous awards and honors including a newbery honor frog and toad together a caldecott honor frog and toad are friends ala notable childrens book fanfare honor list the horn book school library