2024 New England Book Award Finalist
A sad sack frog, who bemoans his inability to sing like a bird, discovers the vital role he's meant to play in his woodland home in this debut picture book from Mk Smith Despres, gorgeously illustrated by award-winning artist Hyewon Yum.
"Using a mix of watercolor, colored pencil, and ink, Yum illustrates Despres’ lilting, sonorous text with idyllic scenes of songbirds and waterfowl, butterflies and dragonflies, amid verdant tufts of greenery and sprays of flowers. Poetic and peaceful: a natural for bedtime reading." —Kirkus
"In this lyrically told be-yourself story, a frog named Bernardo longs to join the birds whose dawn song inspires the sun... Assured lines by debut creator Smith Despres convey the wonder of change brought by the day’s rhythms, while limpid colored pencil, watercolor, and ink spreads by Yum deliver giggles and render subtly changing light and color in this hymn to contemplating one’s place in the world." —Publishers Weekly