Although we've seen numerous educational products to assist children in the understanding of a frog's life cycles, Folkmanis has produced a prodigious hands-on science lesson rolled up into one puppet. It begins as an egg-like, jelly-shelled encasement, with a tiny hologram lens center that hints of legless baby tadpoles. This "egg" is handheld with no pockets or moveable parts. Unzip that egg and turn the contents inside out for a more mature tadpole, then unzip-and-tuck once again for a full-bodied, bigger-than-life, adult frog—an impressive instant metamorphosis! The last two cycles have hand pockets for the mouths of the creatures. The chosen fabrics and embellishments create a credible and appealing realistic representation of the related scientific facts. For a continuance of learning opportunities, scores of related books are available, from pop-up or flip styles (Capstone's A Frog's Life Cycle), to helpful science booklets (National Geographic's Frogs!).

Some of the zipping and tucking (returning the adult frog to baby tadpole) of the tightly-packed sections might challenge the manual dexterity of young children, but the sturdy zippers and strong fabrics can survive many forceful twists and turns.