LAWRENCE, Ellen . A Frog's Life . ISBN 978-1-61772-412-1 ; ISBN 978-1-61772-481-7 . LC 2011043252. LAWRENCE, Ellen . A Kangaroo's Life . map. ISBN 978-1-61772-415-2 ; ISBN 978-1-61772-478-7 . LC 2011044727. LAWRENCE, Ellen . A Snake's Life . ISBN 978-1-61772-416-9 ; ISBN 978-1-61772-479-4 . LC 2011044730. LAWRENCE, Ellen . A Spider's Life . ISBN 978-1-61772-414-5 ; ISBN 978-1-61772-480-0 . LC 2011044055. ea vol: 24p. (Animal Diaries: Life Cycles Series). diags. photos. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Bearport . 2012. PLB $23.93; ebook $30.60. Gr 2-3 With an unusual format but conventional content, these volumes are framed as animal-observation journals from children. Several clear, bright color photos enhance each spread. Beginning with calls, egg sightings, or other indirect signs of a mating season in progress ("Today I saw two red kangaroos having a fight!"), each "notebook" tracks a typical animal's course from birth and growth to maturity. Even for the spider and the monarch butterfly, death gets but a single mention and takes place offstage, if at all. Thought-exercise questions and study suggestions are scattered throughout the volumes, which all end with a relevant small-scale activity.