Arnold Lobel

Hello, my name is Arnold Lobel, and I am the person who created the characters Frog and Toad. My story begins on May 22nd, 1933, in a town called Schenectady, New York. When I was a boy, I was often sick and had to stay home from school. It could be very lonely spending so much time by myself. To pass the time, I started to draw pictures and make up stories to go with them. I discovered that I loved creating little worlds on paper. When I finally went back to school, I would show my drawings and tell my stories to the other children. It was a wonderful way to make new friends, and I realized that stories had a special power to bring people together.

When I grew up, I knew I wanted to keep making art. I decided to attend a special school called the Pratt Institute in New York to study art. It was there, surrounded by other creative people, that I met another talented artist named Anita Kempler. We fell in love and were married in 1955. After finishing school, I tried a few different jobs, but nothing felt quite right. I knew deep down that my real passion was for children’s books. I wanted to create stories and pictures that would make kids happy. In 1962, I finally achieved my dream when I wrote and illustrated my very first book, called 'A Zoo for Mister Muster.' It was the beginning of my journey as a children's author.

Of all the characters I ever created, two are very special to me: a cheerful frog and his worrying friend, Toad. I introduced them to the world in 1970 in a book called 'Frog and Toad Are Friends.' Frog was always optimistic and ready for an adventure, while Toad was often grumpy and worried about things going wrong. In a way, both of them were a lot like me. Sometimes I felt brave and cheerful like Frog, and other times I felt anxious like Toad. The most important thing about their stories was their friendship. They were very different, but they always cared for and helped each other. Readers seemed to love them as much as I did. The books won special awards, including a Caldecott Honor in 1971 for the pictures and a Newbery Honor in 1973 for the writing, which made me feel very proud.

Frog and Toad were my most famous friends, but I created many other characters, too. I wrote books like 'Mouse Soup' and 'Owl at Home,' and over the course of my life, I worked on nearly 100 books for children. Each story was a new adventure for me. One of the proudest moments of my entire career came in 1981. That year, my book 'Fables' was awarded the Caldecott Medal, which is one of the highest honors a picture book can receive. Holding that medal felt like a wonderful reward for all the years I had spent drawing and dreaming up stories.

My life's work was all about creating characters that felt like true friends to the children reading my books. I wanted my stories to be a cozy and comforting place for them to visit. I lived to be 54 years old, and in that time, I was able to share so many of my imaginary friends with the world. I hope that my stories, especially the ones about a kind frog and his grumpy toad friend, continue to teach new readers about the warmth and importance of a good friendship.