Book Review: 'Freddy the Frogcaster and the Big Blizzard'

Al Croaker, anyone?

A year after her children’s book debut, called Freddy the Frogcaster, Janice Dean, Fox News Channel senior meteorologist, is back with the sequel, Freddy the Frogcaster and the Big Blizzard (Regnery Kids). Freddy, toiling in the weather department at the Frog News Network, forecasts a massive winter storm and mobilizes his friends and colleagues, along with the mayor of Lilypad, to prepare.

A blizzard kit he prepares for naysaying reporter Polly Woggins saves Polly when the FNN live truck gets stuck in the snow. (The daft Woggins also missed the call on a giant storm in the first book. Kudos to her agent for keeping her employed.)

After Freddy saves the day, Dean wraps things up with meteorological terms and definitions that kids can grasp. Written for a Grade 2 reading level and vividly illustrated by Russ Cox, Freddy the Frogcaster and the Big Blizzard offers teachable moments for the tadpoles in your life when the winter weather gets rough.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.