*Publisher giveaway* for U.S. residents–The giveaway offer has now ended. Congratulations to Erin Ellis!
You can clean your eyeballs with your tongue (if you happen to be a gecko). Or you can use your tongue as a lance (if you’re a woodpecker impaling a larva). And if you’re a snake, you can smell with your tongue.
I learned about these fun tongues in Maria Gianferrari’s playful, informative picture book, Terrific Tongues! (with spirited, bright illustrations by Jia Liu). An inviting read-aloud, the simple text keeps the audience guessing at each turn of the page: Which tongue (with which function) belongs to which animal? Sidebars and back matter offer more detailed information about the unusual abilities of tongues.
If you (or a young someone you know) would like to take a turn unraveling your tongue just like a North American bullfrog, here’s a project to try.
What You Need:
party blowers (in red or pink)
1 sheet of card stock green paper
color paper (construction, origami, whatever you have)
optional: googly eyes
Instructions:
Using the template above, trace the frog shape onto your green card stock. Cut along the outline. Use a hole punch to cut out the circle/mouth hole. Trace and cut out the cheeks, eyes and pupils onto color paper of your choice. Glue the eyes and cheeks to the frog. Insert the blower into the mouth & voila. You are a bullfrog! Perfect for a birthday party or a book celebration of Terrific Tongues!
To learn more about author Maria Gianferrari, go to http://mariagianferrari.com/ or visit her on Facebook or Instagram.
homemadecity.com 
Wow – this is a FANTASTIC craft pairing for Maria and Jia’s TERRIFIC TONGUES!
Bravo Margaret! You are so talented!
She is indeed, Cathy!! 🙂
Love that photo of Zeke modeling the frog tongue! The eyes line up perfectly. Altogether, a beautiful blog,
🙂
Margaret–thank you so much for this terrific craft!! Cathy is right–you are incredibly creative & talented and I am lucky to reap the benefits! 🙂
Happy book birthday to you!
This is so cute! Love the party blower tongue! Beautiful book.
Hello!
My girls would love this. Thank you for the fabulous giveaway!
It is indeed! Margaret is very crafty!! Thanks, Lisa!! ❤
Congrats on winning, Erin! 🙂
Adorable! I’ll do it with my young students.
🙂
As a person who adores frogs (I have some as pets and decorations) I have to read this book and make some fun frogs myself.
Thanks for following the posts, Danielle ❤ ❤
So clever and cute!!! I love how you do the photos and make it look so simple to craft with easy to read directions.
It’s lovely and very professional 🙂
That’s a clever craft! Maria’s books are wonderful! I can’t wait to read this one, too.
Hello & thanks, Annette!! 🙂
Hi Margaret! This makes me happy for so many reasons. 🙂 I’m so glad to have a chance to check out your site – it’s fantastic! Congratulations to you, and happy book birthday to Maria!
Thank you, Carrie 🙂
Cleaning your eyeballs with your tongue? I had no idea!! This looks like a really fun book and project, and your colorful photos are a pleasure too.
I hope you’ll like it, Susan!
These are so clever–will be fun for school visits! Kids will be attempting to clean each other’s eyeballs with their tongues:-)
And a bit germy ;). Thanks, Nancy!
Sounds like a great project to do after reading the book
🙂
Love this!
Thanks, Annette! Loved Girl Running :)!
Annette–I just bought your book for my elementary school library. You have a lot of fans there! –Margaret
Hello! This looks f
un!
🙂
Thank you! I can’tiaittogetmy hands on a copy of Terrific Tongues!
I hope you will like it, Elizabeth.
What a great project and book!
Margaret’s crafts are the best!!
Love your craft–and learning about all the cool things animal tongues can do. 🙂
🙂
What a delightful craft!!