FROGS elicit strong emotions. The abhorrence some people feel is so intense that it bears not one, but two medical names—ranidaphobia and batrachophobia (which encompasses all amphibians). Psychologists blame childhood experiences, but what did the harmless frog ever do to deserve rejection? For most children, at least in rural areas, the extraordinary process from spawn to tadpoles and frogs has always been among the most accessible of Nature’s annual miracles.
It’s a wonder that has often captivated the Arts. From Aristophanes’s play (where they provided a chorus as the Greek god Dionysus journeyed to the underworld) via Mark Twain’s first published success—the 1865 short story—to Beatrix Potter’s 1906 Jeremy Fisher and Paul McCartney’s 1984, the amphibian has attracted writers and artists for more
