‘Froggy’ writer’s many muses

As a starving poet in San Francisco in the 1970s and ’80s, he was inspired by the Beat writings of Gary Snyder and Michael McClure and the poems of Pablo Neruda and Rainer Maria Rilke. Published in dozens of literary journals and anthologies, he made next to nothing but was still dedicated enough to write a poem a day.

That was until the late 1980s, when his young sons fell in love with his stories. As a poet, he wove lyrical passages that left them spellbound. One of them, a bedtime tale called “The Owl Who Became the Moon,” he decided to write down one night in 1989. Taking readers on a night-train journey that winds through a snowy forest and homes of the wildlife who live there, he evoked imagery like “the snow flutters like white butterflies in the steam” or “it ticktacks down the tracks and snakes through a tunnel blacker than night.”

Not having an agent or really any understanding of the children’s-book market, he looked at the back of his kids’ “Winnie the Pooh” book and noticed it was published by Dutton. So he sent them a copy.

His life would never be the same. Where most unsolicited manuscripts are left to wither on the reject pile, this time an editor at Dutton responded to say they would like to publish the book. One day he was planning to set up the American Library Association convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The next day he was invited to present his book at the annual literary trade fair.

Jonathan London, who penned the popular “Froggy” series of children’s books relaxes at home with his dog Toto in Graton. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat)

On the flipside, the first “Froggy” book was not such an easy sell. One night on a chilly drive back from Point Reyes, in a car with no radio, his two sons begged for a story to pass the time.

“It just came to me,” he remembers. “ ‘It was cold. Froggy woke up and looked out the window. Snow! Snow! I want to go out and play in the snow!’ It just wrote itself and they were cracking up.”

But, even with an agent this time, he had no luck. A dozen editors initially passed on “Froggy Gets Dressed,” saying it was “a one-joke book,” as Froggy puts on layer after layer of clothing to go play in the snow, but ultimately realizes he forgot his underwear. Prospective editors thought children wouldn’t want to read the book again after knowing the punchline at the end.

Penguin Books finally took a chance on it, spawning the hugely successful Froggy series that takes kids along for amphibious life lessons and rites of passage, with titles like “Froggy Plays Soccer,” “Froggy Goes to Camp,” “Froggy’s Halloween” and, coming in February 2013, “Froggy’s Worst Playdate.”