Before You Leap

Before You Leap is a tongue in cheek book on the life of one Kermit The Frog, written by the talented amphibian we've all come to know and love.

In the first third of the book we get to know the real biography from the frog's mouth, talking about growing up in the swamp as one of 2,353 tadpoles from his own mother (talk about large families), growing up as a frog who had dreams beyond the swamp, always wanting to be in show business. He talks about meeting up with Jim Henson and all the different TV shows he was on, including Sesame Street, which made him a virtual star. He talks about being the host of the Muppet Show, and being the only amphibian who ever hosted the Tonight Show for Johnny Carson, as well as the only one with an honorary doctorate. He also talks about the movies, the albums, and his friends; for that matter, his friends also pop in from time to time and offer their little tidbits of information, or just want to get a word in edgewise, especially Miss Piggy.

The second two thirds of the book are Kermit's lessons on life, of course from a frog's point of view. Yet, for what it's worth, each of his lessons, 14 in all, are applicable to the homo sapien in all of us, though some of them have very familiar themes to them. Just to name a few, we have "The Seven Dreams of Highly Effective Amphibians", When Bad Things Happen To Good Frogs" and my favorite, "Finding Your Inner Tadpole". For, as we learn, the frog isn't just a pretty face with a voice (sic); he's smarter than the average bear, which certainly isn't Fozzie Bear, who makes frequent appearances in the book as well.

All kidding aside, this is a different type of motivational book, one that has a very serious message to it, that being that anyone can make it, everyone has a chance to succeed, if they believe their dreams hard enough and are willing to work for them, no matter what. This is a fabulous book, not really for children, but they might enjoy it as well, especially children who are a little bit older. For, it's children who really know how to dream, and they're more apt to listen to a frog anyway.

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