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Jonathan London is a childrens author who is well known for his Froggy series. He was
raised in naval stations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. He now lives in Northern
California with his wife, Maureen. He has two sons, Aaron and Sean, with his wife. In his free
time, he enjoys hiking, kayaking, whale and bird watching, swimming, and traveling. He enjoys
the outdoors, and making children laugh.
London started writing poetry when he was a teenager. He has a Masters degree in Social
Sciences, but never formally studied literature or creative writing throughout his educational
studies. He started writing childrens literature when he had his own children. He began making
up imaginary stories for his children, and then would write them down. This led him to writing
his first childrens story titled The Owl Who Became the Moon. Through his experiences,
dreams, and imagination he began his career as a childrens author.
Throughout the Froggy series, Froggy, the main character, goes through experiences and
adventures that are relatable to childrens daily lives such as baking a cake, getting dressed,
participating in school, and even Halloween. On a winter day, London saw his children playing
in the snow and he said they looked like fat little frogs. Thus, Froggy was born. London also
stated that he loves being in the water, and swimming, which helped form the Froggy character.
London stated that his character Froggy represents himself, his sons, and any child hes met. The
experiences that Froggy faces are partly influenced by experiences that the author has faced.
These experiences are slightly exaggerated to add humor.
We selected Jonathan London because we were all familiar with the Froggy series, and
wanted to explore further into the authors writing style and background. Londons work can be
incorporated in a classroom through various mini lessons. According to the New Jersey
Common Core Standards for First Grade, students should be able to distinguish long from short

vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words (Reading, 2015, 1.2.A). During this minilesson, students will be sorting words from Froggy Goes to School into two categories, Short o
and Short u. Students will also be able to read grade-level text orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings (Reading, 2015, 1.4.B). Students will
participate in Readers Theater by performing Froggy Goes to School in groups, and without
props or costumes. Students will read with expression to make the story come to life.
In First Grade students should also be familiar with Conventions of English Grammar
(Language, 2015, 1.1) Three lessons we would conduct involve students identifying nouns,
adjectives and verbs that can be found in various Froggy books. The students will also be able to
use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I
walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home.) (Language, 2015, 1.1.E). Students will write a letter
to the author telling him what their favorite book was and why (Writing, 2015, 1.1-1.2.) Along
with the students letters, we will also take a picture of each student with Froggy. We will create
a Froggys Classroom Adventure book with the students pictures and letters at the end of the
author study. This is part of the culminating activity.
In order for us to see how the students have grown throughout the author study, we
would ask the students to reflect on the work they have accomplished, and about the goals for the
remainder of the author study. At the end of each week, the students will participate in a
reflective writing lesson where they will write in their journals about what book was read that
week, what they thought about it, why, and what their favorite activity of the week was
(Writing, 2015, 1.1).
When we chose Jonathan Londons Froggy series, we were thinking about the grade level
we wanted to teach, which is first grade. After reading the article Matching Texts and Readers:

Leveling Early Reading Materials for Assessment and Instruction by Lori Jamison Rog and
Wilfred Burton (2002), we determined Lets Go Froggy, Froggy Goes to School, Froggys Baby
Sister, Froggys Halloween were at a level 6. They are level 6 books because they contain
illustrations that provide high support for text, about 2-3 sentences per page, mostly
decodable text and sight words, and content involves dialogue. Froggy Bakes a Cake is a level
7 book because print is longer and more detailed, illustrations provide moderate to high
support for the text, and there are more new words introduced. We decided to keep studying
this author and his works because the grade level is appropriate for the degree we will all have
after graduating.
When introducing the author to the class, we will start by giving the students background
information on him, such as his family, his education, the purpose behind his stories, and some
additional information about his hobbies. Then, we will show them a picture of what he looks
like. We will ask the students what their favorite outdoor activity is and have them draw London
doing their favorite outdoor activity. This will be followed by reading Lets Go Froggy! In the
story Lets Go Froggy!, London reflects upon his experiences with his sons, and also his love for
the outdoors.
After reading many Froggy books, we chose five that will be used for our author study.
All of these Froggy books contain a variety of onomatopoeias and the use of personification,
which will be discussed and explored further through mini-lessons. Lets Go Froggy! will be
used to introduce the author because of the father-son relationship throughout the story that is
influenced by the authors relationship with his sons. We chose Froggy Goes to School because
all children share the experience of going to school. This book is good to use for sequencing of
events, such as getting dressed before school. Froggy Bakes a Cake was chosen to introduce a

how-to book, and ask children to write their own how-to list. In this book, Froggy bakes a cake
and provides step by step instructions. Froggys Baby Sister discusses how families can change
and the emotions that might arise when changes occur. This book would be a great addition to
talking about families in class. We would use this to promote discussion about the students
families and how they interact with their family, and if their families changed in anyway. Our
final choice was Froggys Halloween. We chose this book because it is the last week of October
when we would introduce this book. This book introduces Halloween, which almost every child
is aware of and familiar with. This book can be used to talk about sequencing of events and
onomatopoeias.
Jonathan London is the author of the Froggy series, which will be used to conduct an
author study in a First Grade classroom. Through various mini-lessons involving these books,
students will learn short vowels o and u, nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and how to read for
expression. Students will also learn the meanings of onomatopoeias and personification, which
are both featured in the Froggy books. Finally, the students will participate in various writing
mini-lessons, including journal reflections and writing a letter. By participating in this author
study, students will develop their writing and foundational reading skills.

References
Birchall, Lorrie. (2012). 133 Phonics Poems for Teaching Phonics Skills. Retrieved February 24,
2015, from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lorrie-L-Birchalll

Language Grade 1. (2015). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from

http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/1/
Literature Grade 1. (2015). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/1/
L.J. Rog & W. Burton (2002). Matching Texts and Readers: Leveling Early Reading Materials
for Assessment and Instruction. The Reading Teacher, Vol. 55, No. 4. International
Reading Association.
London, Jonathan. (2000). Froggy Bakes a Cake. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.
London, Jonathan. (2003). Froggy's Baby Sister. New York, NY: Viking.
London, Jonathan. (1996). Froggy Goes to School. New York: Viking.
London, Jonathan. (1999). Froggy's Halloween. New York: Viking.
London, Jonathan. (1994). Let's Go, Froggy! New York, NY: Viking.
Reading: Foundational Skills Grade 1. (2015). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/1/
Rowdy in Room 300 (Interactive Nouns). Retrieved May 5, 2015, from
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Interactive-Nouns-863481
Writing Grade 1. (2015). Retrieved February 24, 2015, from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/1/
Terhune, Amanda. (2012). "Mrs. Terhune's First Grade Site!: Anchor Charts." Mrs. Terhune's
First Grade Site!: Anchor Charts. Retrieved from
http://mrsterhune.blogspot.com/2012/01/anchor-charts.html