“The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her a drum.” The noise Pokko, a frog, makes with her drum is too much for Pokko’s parents, who send her outside. There, tapping on her drum, she’s quickly joined by a raccoon with a banjo, a rabbit with a trumpet, and a wolf, who just likes marching along behind. When the wolf eats the rabbit, Pokko is having none of it: “No more eating band members or you’re out of the band.” The wolf’s apology is genuine, and the band plays on; a raucous, ever-growing gathering as other animals join them marching through the woods. Even Pokko’s parents get swept up—literally—in the exuberance of it all. The watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations are rife with possibilities for inference, while their appearance—a cozy, warm palette and a bit of a stylistic edge—are as distinct as the rest of this hilarious, masterfully paced story. Honor Book, 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 4–8)

Four starred reviews!
A Today Show Best Book of the Year
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019

From E.B. White Read Aloud honor artist Matthew Forsythe comes an “extraordinary” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) picture book about a magical drum, an emerald forest, and the little frog who dares to make her own music.

The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her the drum. When Pokko takes the drum deep into the forest it is so quiet, so very quiet that Pokko decides to play. And before she knows it she is joined by a band of animals —first the raccoon, then the rabbit, then the wolf—and soon the entire forest is following her. Will Pokko hear her father’s voice when he calls her home?

Pokko and the Drum is a story about art, persistence, and a family of frogs living in a mushroom.