I had a funny thought...

That's how it begins sometimes, with that comment, "I had a funny thought..."

I was digging around in my puppet closet (yes, they have their own room) and came across a frog glove puppet, five frogs in all. It was a present from a client of my brother Thomas. Quite lovely and unlike any I'd ever seen!

Here's just one--I think she's the queen:

Then I saw another puppet, a giant bug I got in Belgium a few years ago.

Next year, the theme for the public library summer reading program is "Catch the reading bug."

Some of you might have guessed the funny thought: the finger play/song Five green and speckled frogs, with these very elegant frogs and the enormous cartoony bug. The frogs are smaller than the bug's eye. I tried it out--this is going to take some practice because I've got to remember to put the bug on first, and I have to figure out the logistics, but I'm hoping for some big laughs at the incongruity.


Five green and speckled frogs,
sat on a speckled log,
eating some most delicious bugs,
yum, yum.
One jumped into the pool,
where it was nice and cool,
now there were four green speckled frogs,
glub, glub.