Book excerpt: So many of today's comic strips feature edgy characters. Spot the Frog is gentler, more whimsical, with a sense of the fantastic. It's about innocence and wisdom and the complete appreciation of what you have." Spot the Frog is a wild and gentle strip, an oddball of modern comics. The humor springs from misadventure and friendship, where the characters are more likely to lend a hand than give a push. Spot the Frog hops from the page in high spirits, pleasant and good-natured, a refreshing alternative to the daily concerns of a cynical world. The change is like a cool breeze across a pond on a blistering summer day. Spot the Frog is the first collection of Mark Heath's charming new comic strip. Through its pages readers meet Spot, an amiable little amphibian; grandfatherly Karl, Spot's favorite two-legged mammal; and Buddy, a bespectacled fellow-frog who is Spot's best pal. This trio finds its way in and out of life's challenges and joys, never needing more than each other and their immediate surroundings to generate plenty of laughs and lighter views of the world at large. Spot the Frog is a tribute to Heath's originality, his beautifully rendered characters, and the artist-writer's ability to successfully swim against the stream. Author's web site: www.spotthefrog.net/