They walked back to the big meadow. They looked for the button in the grass.
“Here is your button!” cried Frog.
“No,” said Toad, “that is not my button. That button is black. My button was white.” And Toad put the black button in his pocket.
A sparrow flew down from a tree.
“Excuse me,” said Sparrow. “Did you lose a button? I found one.”
“No,” said Toad, “that is not my button. That button has two holes. My button had four holes.” And Toad put the button with two holes in his pocket.
They went back to the woods and looked on the paths.
“Here is your button!” cried Frog.
“No,” said Toad, “that is not my button. That button is small. My button was big.” And Toad put the small button in his pocket.
A raccoon came out from behind a tree.
“Excuse me,” said Raccoon. “I heard that you lost a button. Here is the one I just found.
“No,” said Toad, “that is not my button! That button is square. My button was round.” And Toad put the square button in his pocket.
Frog and Toad went back to the river. They looked for the button in the mud.
“Here is your button!” cried Frog.
“No,” said Toad, “that is not my button! That button is thin. My button was thick.
And Toad put the thin button in his pocket. He was very angry. He jumped up and down.
“The world is full of buttons, but they are not mine!” cried Toad.
Toad ran home and shut the door. There on the floor, he saw his white, big, round, thick button with four holes.
“Oh!” said Toad. “It was here all the time. So much trouble I made for Frog!”
Toad took all of the buttons out of his pocket and sewed them all on his jacket.
The next day Toad gave his jacket to Frog. Frog thought that it was beautiful. He put it on and jumped for joy. None of the buttons got lost. Toad sewed them on very well.
Toad and Frog went to the river.
“What a day for a swim,” said Frog.
“Yes,” said Toad. “I will go behind the rocks and put on my bathing suit.”
“I don’t wear a bathing suit,” said Frog.
“But I do,” said Toad. “After I put on my bathing suit, do not look at me until I get into the water.”
“Why not?” asked Frog.
“Because I look funny in my bathing suit,” said Toad.
Frog closed his eyes when Toad came out from behind the rocks. Toad had his bathing suit on.
“Don’t look,” he said.
Frog and Toad jumped into the water. They swam all day. Frog swam fast. Toad swam slowly.