Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best [A Parody]

Bedtime Stories for Trying Times

Contributors

By Jennie Egerdie

Illustrated by Ellie Hajdu

Formats and Prices

Price

$10.99

Price

$13.99 CAD

At home, work, and out in our ever-changing world, we're all just doing our best. In this modern parody, Frog and Toad are here to commiserate and lend some laughter.

Full of wry humor and deep compassion for our modern vulnerabilities, the stories in Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best perfectly capture the heartwarming authenticity of Lobel’s famous amphibian friends while revealing razor-sharp truths about the world we live in today. Through Frog and Toad, we see the anxieties that are woven throughout our everyday existence, from our well-meaning but often-failed attempts at practicing self-care to our struggle to balance the gifts and burdens of technology. Toad ponders a variety of questionable schemes to pay off his credit cards, while Frog spends too much time scrolling through the newsfeed on his phone. But despite their daily frustrations and existential concerns, they know that having a friend to share life’s burdens makes even the darkest days brighter.

  • “The perfect gift for a good friend with a sense of humor.”  
    Amazon Book Review, "Editors' Picks: Gift Books Under $25"
  • “…Jennie Egerdie recasts pandemic life in all its virtual messiness by reimagining Arnold Lobel’s enchanting amphibians working from home, futzing with their FitBits, and donning sheet masks in an attempt at proper self-care.” 
    The Boston Globe
  • “This book is hilarious, and I also want to wear it like a cozy, friendly sweater.”
    Emily Flake, New Yorker cartoonist and author of That Was Awkward: The Art and Etiquette of the Awkward Hug
  •  “Jennie’s book reminds us that while most millennials do not live in a pastoral fairy-tale lily pad, it is always better to approach our 21st-Century problems like timeless, whimsical, clothed amphibians: with humor, honesty, and with a generous dose of kindness toward others and ourselves.”
     
    Felipe Torres Medina, writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
  • “If you like to laugh, this book is for you. If you like nostalgia, this book is for you. If you want coziness, this book is for you. If you don’t like any of those things, may I recommend a rusty nail to the thigh?”
    Johnathan Appel, writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
  • “This book is like a cup of chamomile at bedtime, but one that makes you laugh out loud and feel soothed and understood. So, I really recommend picking up this rather than a cup of tea.”
    Julie Vick, author of Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?)
  •  “In these unprecedented times, it makes sense that we would turn to the classic characters of Frog and Toad for laughs, joy, and the soothing pleasures of two amphibians who love to be friends. I’ve scream-laughed at and obsessively shared Jennie’s amazing short pieces, and this book is a perfect vehicle to reintroduce these characters to a modern context.”
     
    Caitlin Kunkel, co-author of New Erotica for Feminists and co-founder of The Satire and Humor Festival
  • “If Jennie Egerdie isn’t on your all-time best satire writers list, you need to get yourself a new list. I laughed, I cried, I felt hopeful and mad and tired and seen. But mostly I felt jealous because who writes this well all the time?”
    Brooke Preston, co-author of New Erotica for Feminists and co-founder of The Belladonna
  • “From dealing with crappy Wi-Fi to wanting everyone to like you, this modern take on a truly great classic had us laughing out loud. We’ve never related more to our favorite amphibian duo! Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best is just the laugh we need these days.”
     
    Laura Lane and Ellen Haun, authors of Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling: And Other Feminist Fairy Tales
  • “This book will be famous, so I’m glad my name is on it.”
    Elissa Bassist, editor of the Funny Women column on The Rumpus

On Sale
Oct 5, 2021
Page Count
96 pages
Publisher
Running Press
ISBN-13
9780762478477

Also by Jennie Egerdie

Jennie Egerdie

About the Author

Jennie Egerdie is a Canadian writer and performer living in Brooklyn, NY. A contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s, her first book Frog and Toad are Doing
Their Best
was named one of Vulture’s best humor books of 2021. For more stories and humor, visit http://www.jennie.fun.
 

Learn more about this author