Before You Leap
Subtitle: A Frog's-Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons
By: by Kermit the Frog [pseudonym]
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: Meredith Books
Published: September 2006
Place of publication: Des Moines, IA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780696232329
Subjects: Life skills -- Humour.; Kermit the Frog (Fictitious character).
Genres: Humorous fiction
Description: As Kermit explains in the introduction, the book is split into two parts: "First, it's a book about my life. Second, it's a book about your life."

The first third of the book, "A Frog's Life", tells the story of the Muppets, from Kermit's point of view. He leaves the swamp, and heads to Washington, D.C., where he meets Jim Henson and stars in Sam and Friends. The Muppet gang moves to New York City, where Rowlf becomes the first Muppet star on The Jimmy Dean Show. Kermit moves on to Sesame Street, then The Muppet Show, and then on to the big screen. As the story progresses, Kermit describes his relationships with his friends, including Fozzie, Gonzo and, of course, Miss Piggy.

In the second part of the book, "Lessons for Your Life", Kermit puts his own amphibian spin on a number of popular self-improvement fads. The chapter titles spoofing self-help hits include "The Seven Dreams of Highly Effective Amphibians", "When Bad Things Happen to Good Frogs", "Don't Sweat the Small Bugs (And They're All Small Bugs)", "Moving Your Own Cheese" and "Fridays with Fozzie". In these chapters, Kermit offers advice on how to live one's life, filtered through his own experiences.

Kermit's friends make appearances scattered throughout the book aiding with Kermit's examples of life lessons, or just occasionally interrupting the text to speak for themselves. The book is illustrated with approximately 100 color photos of Kermit and the Muppets.
Notes: The book was followed by two companion volumes: Pepe the King Prawn's It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp (October 2008), and Miss Piggy's The Diva Code (January 2009).
Table of contents: label: Introduction
pagenum: 6; label: Part 1
title: A Frog's Life; label: Chapter 1
title: The Green & Wet Behind the Ears Years
pagenum: 9; label: Chapter 2
title: Discovering the Magic Store
pagenum: 25; label: Chapter 3
title: Finding the Rainbow Connection
pagenum: 40; label: Chapter 4
title: It's Not That Easy Staying Green
pagenum: 65; label: Part 2
title: A Frog's Life; label: Chapter 5
title: The Seven Dreams of Highly Effective Amphibian
pagenum: 74; label: Chapter 6
title: Take A Flying Leap
pagenum: 85; label: Chapter 7
title: The Wealth of Amphibians
pagenum: 96; label: Chapter 8
title: When Bad Things Happen to Good Frogs
pagenum: 104; label: Chapter 9
title: Don't Sweat the Small Bugs (And They're All Small Bugs)
pagenum: 114; label: Chapter 10
title: It's Not That Easy Eating Greens
pagenum: 124; label: Chapter 11
title: Finding Your Inner Tadpole
pagenum: 138; label: Chapter 12
title: Love Amphibian Style
pagenum: 148; label: Chapter 13
title: How to Win Friends & Meet Influential People
pagenum: 162; label: Chapter 14
title: How to Succeed at Success Without Being Too Trying
pagenum: 176; label: Chapter 15
title: Knee-Deep in the Good Life
pagenum: 188; label: Chapter 16
title: Moving Your Own Cheese
pagenum: 204; label: Chapter 17
title: Fridays with Fozzie
pagenum: 212; label: Chapter 18
title: Life's Like A Movie; Write Your Own Ending
pagenum: 220