Froggy Rhymes and Songs

These Australian children's songs were sent to me by Adrienne Jerram (adrienne@SciFac.usyd.edu.au).

Mr Frog jumped out of the pond one day
And found himself in the rain
Said he, "I'll get wet and I might catch a cold."
So he jumped in the pond again.

Here's another one:

Da -Glumpf went the little Green frog one day
Da- Glumpf went the little Green frog
Da -Glumpf went the little Green frog one day
And the frog went Glumpf Glumpf Glumpf
But we all know frogs go "La de da de da"
"La de da de da"
"La de da de da"
We all know frogs go "La de da de da"
They don't go glumpf glumpf glumpf.

There is a more deadly version which goes:

We all know frogs go squish when you tread on them
Squish when you tread on them
Squish when you tread on them
We all know frogs go squish when you tread on them
SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH

Kate Andrews (iware_ka@enternet.com.au) contributed two more verses:

But we all know frogs go
TZZZZZT in the microwave .... etc. etc.
But we all know frogs go
SLUSH in the washing machine .... etc. etc.

Don't try this at home, kids! Remember, small children who are mean to frogs also go SQUISH.

Here's a Japanese frog song, contributed by Garfield Dean (garfield@hparc.eurocontrol.fr):

Ka ey roo no oo ta ga
ki ko ey tay koo roo no
kwa kwa kwa kwa
kero kero kero kero kwa kwa kwa.

The translation is something like:

I like to go to the lake
and hear the frogs sing:
kwa kwa kwa kwa
kero kero kero kero kwa kwa kwa.

("Kero" is how frogs croak in Japanese.)

This one is from Brad Hodgeman (hodgeman@vms2.macc.wisc.edu), who says it's from an old Calvin & Hobbes cartoon:

I have a buddy,
My buddy's a toad.
My buddy is muddy,
He's flat on the road.
But he is my buddy,
My buddy to stay.
Until he's peeled up,
And sailed away.

From an anonymous poet:

What a wonderful bird the frog are--
When he sit, he stand almost.
When he hop, he fly almost.
He ain't got no sense hardly.
He ain't got no tail hardly either.
When he sit, he sit on what he ain't got--almost.

Edna St.Vincent-Millay, "Assault":

I had forgotten how the frogs must sound
After a year of silence, else I think
I should not have ventured forth alone
At dusk upon this unfrequented road.
I am waylaid by Beauty. Who will walk
Between me and the crying of the frogs?
Oh, savage Beauty, suffer me to pass,
that am a timid woman, on her way
From one house to another!

Eric Pearson contributed this rhyme.

Look at them toad suckers ain't they clods.
Sittin' there suckin' them green toady frogs.
Suckin' them hop toads, suckin' them plunkers.
Suckin' them leapy types, suckin' them jumpers.
Look at them toad suckers ain't they snappy?
Suckin' them bob frogs sure makes 'em happy!
Wanna be a toad sucker? No way to duck it.
Get yerself a toad, rear back an' suck it!

Ode to An Expiring Frog, by Charles Dickens (from "The Pickwick Papers"):

Can I view thee panting, lying
On thy stomach, without sighing;
Can I unmoved see they dying
On a log,
Expiring frog!
Say, have fiends in shape of boys,
With wild hallo, and brutal noise,
Hunted thee from marshy joys,
With a dog,
Expiring frog!

This frog song was submitted by Deborah Reed (breed@micron.net).

The frog is a clever amphibian,
just ask him a question and see.
Like what do you do when your back is sore
(pause) "RRUBIT RRUBIT"
He answers back to me.
The frog is a clever amphibian,
just ask him a question and see.
Like how deep is the froggy pond?
(pause) "KNEEDEEP, KNEEDEEP"
He answers back to me!

"Frogs", a poem by Mike Austin (sent to me by his grandfather, Michael Notte):

Frogs are green freckled and exotic
While toads are brown lumpy and
Neurotic
and tree frogs are smooth
Gentle and melodic
Yet HOW could these frogs with such different
Descriptions
Get along without any conniptions?
Here is a clue if you can't figure it out
Toads live in slimy ditches
Frogs live in grass above the ridges
And tree frogs live-
Well, you know....

A poem by Libby Kimzey (volpicel@dnet.net.id), age 9:

A tadpole can die of heat,
swimming is it's greatest feat.
A tadpole, no water,
most certantly slaughter.
A frog has lungs, tadpoles none.
A frog may live in a bog.
A frog and no water
doesn't mean death.
So, as you see, a frog's like a reptile,
a tadpole's like fish!
My wish to thee:
Keep my froggies free,
Keep my froggies alive,
If you don't, my froggies, will die.

Jump back to the Froggy Page!

Sandra Loosemore