Mountain Yellow Legged Frogs Win Big: Frogs on the Mountain Earns First Place in the 2025 Ian Book Awards

We are thrilled to share some exciting news. Frogs on the Mountain earned first place in the 2025 Ian Book Awards in the Animals, Pets, and Nature category. This honor means a great deal to us, not only because it celebrates the work behind the story, but because it shines a brighter light on the real animals who inspired it.

The mountain yellow-legged frog is among the most endangered amphibians in North America. These small, resilient frogs live high in the Sierra Nevada and face enormous challenges. Their story is a reminder that even the quietest creatures can hold entire ecosystems together. When readers fall in love with an animal on the page, they often want to learn how to protect it in the real world. That is the hope that guided this book from the start.

Awards help stories travel. A first-place win means more families, classrooms, and nature lovers may discover this little frog and the mountain home it depends on. If that leads even one reader to pause on a trail, look closer at a creek, or ask how they can help protect wild places, then the book has done its job.

Thank you to the Ian Book Awards committee for recognizing the importance of nature storytelling, and thank you to every reader who has held space in their hearts for this tiny but mighty frog. May this award help amplify the voices of all creatures who need our care, from the mountains to the deserts to the forests we share.