In the middle of a bright blue pond, on a giant green lily pad, lived a tiny frog named Pippin. One morning, Pippin took a deep breath and shouted “Croak!” as loud as he could.

Pippin waited for a moment, enjoying the sunshine. Suddenly, another “Croak!” came from the opposite shore. Pippin froze and listened closely.

Pippin looked across the water in surprise. He blinked his big eyes and searched the reeds, but he could not see any other frogs. “Who is that?” he wondered.

He wanted to see if the voice would answer again. He stood up tall on his webbed feet and shouted again. “Croak, croak!” he called out across the pond.

Pippin waited, but this time the sound was slightly different. It sounded a bit softer and faster than before, almost like a playful whisper skipping over the waves.

Pippin was determined to find his new friend. He started looking for the source of the sound. His friend Zizz the dragonfly zipped down from the sky to help him.

First, he looked behind a large lily pad near the shore. He used his little hands to lift the heavy green leaf, but the mysterious voice was not hiding there.

Then, he looked next to a big, mossy rock at the water's edge. He hopped around it and checked every tiny crack, but he only found a few sleeping snails.

Pippin met Barnaby the wise old turtle near the tall reeds. Barnaby smiled and pointed his slow paw toward the high, rocky cliffs at the very end of the pond.

Finally, Pippin reached the cliffs and discovered that the sound came from an echo. On the edge of the small pond, the sounds were bouncing back from the hard, flat stones.

Pippin laughed and hopped with joy. He learned that the echo was his own voice being heard again. It wasn't a stranger; it was just the pond playing a game with him!

He spent the rest of the day having fun making different sounds and listening to the echo. Pippin and Barnaby sat together as the sun set, listening to the pond sing back to them.