Will Douglas Florian ever run out of ideas for smart, funny pairs of poems and paintings about the natural world? Luckily, the answer so far has been no. In lizards, frogs, and polliwogs , he writes about reptiles and amphibians. As in his previous “poems and paintings” volumes describing creatures of nature ( beast feast (1994), in the swim (1997), insectlopedia (1998), mammalabilia (2000), and on the wing (1996), all published by Harcourt), the book blends facts, wordplay, wit, and art. This collection is humorous in a delightful and exacting way. Florian puts all the information necessary to appreciate the jokes he makes out of attributes from each creature right on the page. The full-page paintings are watercolor and collage. (Ages 6–10)

From transparent glass frogs and ravenous rattlesnakes to sticky geckos and stressed-out skinks, this slithery spectacle showcases once again Douglas Florian's incomparable skill for making poetry informative, fun—and irresistible!