Book Signing for Joshua the Giant Frog
by Peggy Thomas
Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith

"From the moment the first boat floated down the Erie Canal, people living along its banks have told strange stories. It was as if mixing the waters of the Hudson and the Erie made mysterious things happen." – from Joshua and the Giant Frog

An astonished feat of engineering and human labor, the Erie Canal had enormous impact on New York and the rest of America after it opened to great fanfare in 1825. In Joshua and the Giant Frog, the town of Empeyville sits alongside this modern wonder, which, due to a recent drought, is "nothing more than a wet rag lying across the state." A line of barges stranded between the cities of Syracuse and Rome has been stuck all summer, and no amount of mules or oxen can move them. However, thanks to the ingenuity of young Red McCarthy, the boats are hauled all the way to Albany, pulled by his amiable amphibian friend, Joshua.

This turn-of-the-century tall tale shows that even a giant frog can be friendly and helpful, when given a purpose and embraced in a spirit of collaboration and community. The townspeople of Empeyville have plenty of work for Joshua, and he is happy to oblige, since every day ends with swimming and playing in the local pond. Amusing illustrations depict small-town life in nineteenth-century upstate New York, and history hops ahead in this Americana tribute to hard work, teamwork, and resourcefulness.

About the Author: Peggy Thomas

The tall tales of Peggy Thomas heard as a child growing up outside Buffalo, New York, and her adult readings of Erie Canal folktales inspired her story of Joshua and the Giant Frog.

Ms. Thomas received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in anthropology form the State University of New York at Buffalo. Although she has penned stories for Cricket Magazine and Hopscotch for Girls magazine, Joshua and the Giant Frog is her first fictional children's book. She has published eleven nonfiction books on the natural sciences, including The Science of Saving Animals Series, of which the Marine Mammal Preservation volume was named NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children; Medicines from Nature, chosen by the New York Public Library as a 1999 Book for the Teen Age; and Volcano!, which was an ALA-recommended Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Her personal interests include studying the natural world, working with local organizations to sponsor Chechen war orphans, and speaking to children in schools across the country about writing nonfiction. A member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, she lives with her husband and two children in the canal town of Middleport, New York, where she is a library associate and an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature.

About the Illustrator: Cat Bowman Smith

Cat Bowman Smith's critically acclaimed artwork adorns more than forty books, including Joshua and the Giant Frog, Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, Feliciana Feydra LeRoux Meets D'Loup Garou, The Rosie Stories, Old Granny and the Bean Thief, Just One More Story, Bedtime, and Hairdo, among many others.

Ms. Smith lives in Pittsford, New York, with her pup Daisy. She received a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1961. She was an editorial illustrator for Rochester Gannett newspapers, and taught illustration at R.I.T.

She has been "drawing since she could hold a pencil in her hand" and has been illustrating trade books since 1985.