Frog's Boating Adventures
Frog Finds Friends on the Great Loop
A chapter book following Frog, a curious traveler aboard the boat Sanctuary, as he navigates America's Great Loop with a loving grandparent crew — finding friendship, facing challenges, and learning to Fully Rely On God.
Frog’s story begins before the boat ever leaves the dock. When Nana faces a serious surgery, her pastor gives her a small frog as a reminder to “Fully Rely On God” — F.R.O.G. That message becomes the foundation of everything Frog learns throughout the journey.
Now aboard the boat Sanctuary with Nana and Grandpa, Frog sets off on America’s Great Loop — 6,000 miles of real waterways, real ports, and real adventures. From the very first stop, Frog encounters a mean and grumpy alligator who is also doing the Loop. Despite their rocky first meeting, Frog’s willingness to show kindness opens the door to an unlikely friendship — a gentle lesson in looking past first impressions.
Throughout the journey, Frog navigates change, builds courage, learns how to cope with fear, and discovers what it means to be a good friend. Each chapter ends with Frog’s own journal entry, reinforcing the key lessons in Frog’s own voice. The book also includes discussion questions, a vocabulary list, character profiles, fun facts about boating and sea creatures, and even recipes.
Both author Teresa Lasher and illustrator Colleen Wray completed the Great Loop themselves, lending the book a grounded authenticity in its destinations and details.
A wonderful fit for families, faith-based readers, and homeschoolers.
Thoughts from a Looper:
This one has a special backstory for the Loop Life Academy community. We met Teresa Lasher and Colleen Wray in person at Looperpalooza in Punta Gorda, Florida — and they had the small stuffed frogs and marine creatures with them that inspired the whole concept. Both Teresa and Colleen completed the Great Loop themselves, which gives the book an authenticity that comes through in the destinations and details.
Colleen’s illustrations are her debut as a children’s book illustrator, grown out of the watercolor sketches she kept in a visual journal while living aboard Moon Shadow during her own Loop. It’s a genuinely community-made book.
For homeschoolers on the Loop, this is a particularly strong pick. The built-in educational structure — chapter-by-chapter journal prompts, discussion questions, vocabulary lists, character profiles, geography woven into every stop, and fun facts about boating and marine life — makes it easy to use as a full learning unit without any extra prep. Reviewers have noted it works well for third grade and up, both as independent reading and as a read-aloud. One reviewer bought a copy for their daughter’s third-grade classroom specifically for the discussion questions and journaling prompts.
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