Here’s Hank – Stop That Frog!

Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver's Here's Hank - Stop That Frog is a school story for 6 year olds about a boy who forgets the one rule that really mattered.

What happens

Principal Love's frog, Fred, is staying in Hank's classroom for a week. Fred is a White's tree frog, green with a pinkish belly and white spots, and his owner is very particular about him.

Hank is not the most reliable boy in the class. He knows it, too. As he puts it, he means to do the right thing, but sometimes his brain takes a vacation and forgets.

So when the class votes for Hank to take Fred home over the weekend, his teacher writes the most important instruction in red ink. Always put the screen cover back so Fred can't jump out.

You can probably guess the rest. One shout from his dad, one minute out of his bedroom, and the cover ends up on the bed instead of where it should be.

What follows is a proper rescue mission. Hank, his best friends Frankie and Ashley, a butterfly net, a kitchen strainer and three pairs of his mum's rubber gloves.

Reading it is the pleasure of being inside Hank's head while he panics. He crouches into his best frog position and hops round his bedroom croaking, hoping Fred will answer. He works out, with total confidence, that a frog with suction cups on its toes could easily climb up to the lift buttons and hop off down the street.

Hank is very funny about how much trouble he's in, which makes it a lot easier to read about. He's honest about the bits that sting as well. He's the slowest reader in his class, and he notices that his dad brings up school at almost every meal.

There's a lovely grandad in this one too. Papa Pete never makes fun of Hank's ideas and is always willing to try them, which is not something you can say about most grown-ups.

One thing to say up front. Hank's dog Cheerio and his sister's iguana Katherine are already part of the family here, and the frog has to fit in around them. Your reader doesn't need to have met any of them before, because it's all explained as you go.

What to read next

If Hank goes down well, the book where Cheerio actually arrives is A Short Tale About a Long Dog. Hank has to talk his dad round first, and the deal is that every single one of his grades has to improve before anybody goes anywhere near an animal shelter.