Before You Leap

the long version

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.