Adam Ciccio (1983) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was raised in Savannah, Georgia, and attended high school at St. Andrew's School on Wilmington Island, GA. He graduated with a bachelor of arts in English from the University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH) in 2006 and with a master of science in psychological counseling at Salem State University (Salem, MA) in 2012. Adam owns an outpatient mental health practice for children and adults in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the same town in which he currently resides. He's the author of several picture books that focus on developmental growth and self-confidence during early childhood.

"Child psychologist Ciccio uses a light touch here to show how depression can start, how it can intensify, and how support and action can defeat it. At book's start, Jeff the frog and his three froggy friends are having a ball hopping lily pads, swimming, and eating bugs. But one of his friends moves away, and Jeff is devastated, losing interest in his usual pleasures. He becomes immobile, just sitting on his lost friend's old lily pad--so much so that Jeff and the lily pad are sinking. As a scribbly cloud over Jeff's head grows, indicating his deepening sadness, his baffled friends search everywhere for Jeff's lost hop, even braving the inside of an alligator's mouth to find it. Gentle pastels and humorous touches of the illustrations (including lettering that hops up and down, mimicking the frogs' frolics) add to the story's friendly tone. Finally, with the support of
his friends, Jeff gets up shakily on his frog legs, starts hopping again, and is happy. A fun story whose message may stick if depression strikes." - Booklist

Included in CBC's 2025 May Hot Off the Press reading list!

Publisher: Clavis

Pub date: 2025-05-13

Length: 32 pages