# General Topics > General Discussion & News > Book Reviews >  Book Review: The Frogs and Toads of North America

## Johnny O. Farnen

The Frogs and Toads of North America: A comprehensive guide to their identification. behavior, and calls.
By Lang Elliot, Carl Gerhardt and Carlos Davidson
*2009* Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
340 pages
about 20.00 USD retail 13.00 USD on Amazon

(Includes CD with recordings of calls)




Where to begin...

This book is a mind blower.

 Every frog and toad enthusiast should have this book on their coffee table or next to the porcelin throne. ( I am a big advocate of the toilet library!) The forward is by Joesph Collins of Petersen Field Guides fame. This new book covers almost if not every species of frog and toad in the continental United States. Huge, glossy full color pictures abound through out. (Quite a few by Mr. Dick Bartlett!) Updated range maps are with every species. Throw in a CD of calls for almost every critter in the book, and you have a masterwork of amphibians!

I found it by accident while looking for another book and was instantly taken with both the low price and the wonderful pictures. (_Why was a frog book hidden behind the William Gibson books in the Science Fiction section? I do not know, but I took that as a sign!_) My daughter was so excited about it we listened to the CD in the car on the way home from the bookstore. As I am writing this, I am encoding the CD on my Field Herping MP3 player.

This is a field guide that is too big and beautiful to take into the field. My Petersen's will take the abuse, but this book has earned a place of honor on my critter room coffee table. I am especially fascinated with the picture of a pig frog hunting a calling barking tree frog on page 19. 

I do have one small complaint about the book though. I wish it had pictures of tadpoles for each species. That is me being a needy frog novice, but It is about the only thing I can think of that could possibly make this book better. OK, that and a hardcover edition...

I kid you not, if you are a member of this site and reading this review, you need to get this book right now. I feel this book will be compared to the Petranka salamander book in the very near future.

 You will thank me later.

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Cliygh and Mia 2

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## Jace

I'll thank you now!  I've been looking for another frog book to add to my collection!  Thank you!

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## mifune

A very nice book indeed and worth having; thank you for your review. May I also suggest Frogs and Toads of the Southeast by Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons, University of Georgia Press, 2008? The University of Georgia has been publishing a series of nicely pictured and well-written and edited titles on Herpetology in the Southeastern United States, so far four books are out and in my opinion, all of very good quality.

Best regards,

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## John Clare

Very nice review, thanks Johnny.

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## Brian

Thanks for the review. I was just looking at some old frog pictures I had taken and was thinking I really need to get a book to help ID them.

How does this book compare to the Peterson books for helping a beginner ID things? I've spent allot of time with the Peterson (and Sibley) bird books, and found the illustrations more useful for ID than the photos in other books. The most recent Peterson edition for the east is '98, so that might make maps out of date (sadly)?

Then again, neither is super expensive, so I might just get both :Wink: .

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## McLaura

My brother got me this book for Christmas last year, and I agree, it's a fantastic book.  As I'm fairly new to frogs, it's been essential in learning about what's out there in my neck of the woods and around the continent.

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## Silkmoth

I love this book! I showed this to my dad and uncle and they agreed it is wonderful. We really enjoyed the cd, laughing at some of the frogs. There's some that sound like badly chewed squeaky dog toys! So funny. Any one, child to elderly person will get alot of enjoyment from it for years. 
I agree the cover should be hardcover. Thats the only negative about it I can think of.

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## Silkmoth

Is there a dvd frog guide of any kind for North America? This book on dvd would be great!

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## gut

Just got this book in the mail yesterday. *Its awesome.* Glorious pictures and a wealth of information. This review is 110% correct

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## deniserivera

This is an excellent book on frogs. The photos are excellent. The writing is good and it is very comprehensive.

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Cliygh and Mia 2

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## Xavier

I can attest that this book is amazing as everyone says. If you can buy it, I'd say get it.

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## yogadull

very good reviews thanks for let us know, greetings! run 3 unblocked

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## frenky

Amazing book with lots of good information. I'll recommend it to everyone. robot unicorn attack new.

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