Frog and Toad Together

Summary

Best friends Frog and Toad are always together. The five stories feature flowers, cookies, bravery, dreams, and, most importantly, friendship.

A List

Toad wakes up one morning and decides to write a list of things to do for the day. After writing the list and doing the first four items on it (wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, and go to Frog's house), he goes over to Frog's house and invites him to take a walk with him. During the walk, while Toad is crossing off "Take walk with Frog," a sudden gust of wind blows the list away. Frog tries to catch the list, but to no avail. As Toad could not remember what else was on the list, he and Frog just sit and do nothing until night falls and Toad suddenly remembers that going to sleep was the last thing on his list, which is what the two friends do.

The Garden

Toad is impressed with the garden Frog has grown and wishes he had one too, so Frog gives him a bag of flower seeds. Once Toad plants the seeds, he shouts at them to start growing, prompting Frog to come up and tell him the seeds are afraid to grow at the moment. Even when Frog tells Toad to leave the seeds alone and let the sun and rain do their work to help the seeds grow, Toad tries every other way (reading a story, singing songs, reading poetry, and playing music), all of which fail. Exhausted, Toad falls asleep one night, and the next morning, Frog wakes up Toad to show him that the seeds are starting to grow. Toad is glad he will soon have a garden as good as Frog because what he did was hard work.

Cookies

Toad bakes some cookies and goes over to Frog's house to share the cookies with Frog. Toad has made the cookies so delicious that he and Frog at first could not seem to stop eating them, even when they promise themselves to stop. Frog eventually announces they need will power to stop themselves from eating all of the cookies. Even though Frog puts the cookies in a box, ties up the box with string, and puts it on a high shelf, Toad points out what they can still do to eat the rest of the cookies. Frog eventually opens the box, but this time takes it outside and allows flocks of birds to eat up the remaining cookies. Even though Frog and Toad now have plenty of will power, Toad decides to bake a next cake.

Dragons and Giants

While reading a book about knights in shining armor, Frog and Toad are impressed with how brave the heroes in the book are and wonder if they are brave themselves. Despite the mirror showing that they look brave, the friends decide to test their bravery by climbing a nearby mountain. After escaping a hungry snake and narrowly avoiding an avalanche, Frog and Toad reach the top of the mountain, but leave in a hurry after a near escape from a hawk. Once they arrive back at Toad's house and hide in the closet and bed, Frog and Toad admit that they are brave enough to have each other as good friends.

The Dream

One day, while Toad is asleep in bed, he has a dream in which he is on stage and wearing a costume. A voice from an unseen character presents Toad as the Greatest Toad in all the world with Frog as Toad's only audience. Toad does every act great (playing the piano, walking on a high wire, and dancing) and while he does these things and asks Frog if he can do them, Frog shrinks in size and admits he could not do them. Eventually, the dream becomes a nightmare when Toad's dancing act has made Frog shrink rapidly to even be seen or heard. Worried for his friend, Toad prevents the voice from announcing his next act and tries calling out for Frog, only for the dream to end with him spinning in the dark. Toad wakes up from his dream to see Frog in his house and, when they both play together outside, is very relieved that what he experienced was only a bad dream.

Reception

Frog and Toad Together (1972) "Five more wise and wonderful stories to reaffirm the happy truth that Frog and Toad Are Friends."