There's no clue if more than one camera was used in the shoot, but it's certainly well-executed. As the sequence revolves around space rather than time it is even more related to the bullet-time effect popularized by The Matrix about 135 years later. This could be regarded as a predecessor to the chronophotography which Marey and Muybridge started to experiment with more than 10 years later. Except for a smile in 1 frame, not even a fold in his jacket or a single hair seems to change between the different angles. Around 1865 he produced this series of self-portraits consisting of 12 frames showing different angles of him sitting still in a chair. 1865 – Revolving, self-portrait by French photographer Nadar.1833 – Since 1833 onwards, 'animated films' or rather animated effects began to be made with the use of phénakisticopes, zoetropes and praxinoscopes.1826 – View from the Window at Le Gras, Nicéphore Niépce takes the oldest known extant photograph.It is possible that people at the time actually viewed such photographs come to life with a phénakisticope or zoetrope (this certainly happened with Muybridge's work). The sequences were basically made as time-lapse recordings. This is most certainly the first book that I ever thought of as 'my favorite'.Before Muybridge's 1878 work, photo sequences were not recorded in real-time because light-sensitive emulsions needed a long exposure time. 'No, mice live there!,' the children will say. Toddlers can actively participate by guessing if Frog could live, for example, in a distinctively shaped mouse hole in the baseboard. He visits each potential home only to find it occupied by other animals who then traipse along behind him while he continues his search. 'Better Move On, Frog' is centered on a frog searching to find himself a suitable home. Toddlers can chime in and say, 'No, the dog isn't his mother!' In that book, a baby bird is searching to find his mother by asking all manner of creatures if he was theirs. To me, this book bears some similarity to P.D. Because of the animals in this book, it's sure to be delightful for the right age group. 'Better Move On, Frog' was published the same year I was born: 1982. The illustrations are detailed, but nowhere near the extent of Graeme Base's 'Animalia' or 'The Eleventh Hour.' Since the illustrations are beautiful with enough color and content for a toddler (or even an adult) to enjoy, I'd have guessed the book would have gotten more publicity and praise.

Before being able to read on my own, the story's rhythm, predictability, and cadence, made it easy to memorize the simple dialog. I knew where it was located at each of the three libraries where we went, and checked it out each time. This was my absolute favorite book at a very young age.

Better Move On, Frog! by Ron Maris