About the book: An Ordinary Toad’s Extraordinary Night is the story of a young toad named Andrew, pondering whether his life would be more interesting had he been hatched a frog. Andrew embarks on his first solo hop to ask his grandpa some questions about what it means to be an amphibian. The story is blended with factual information that compares and contrasts the similarities and differences among toads and frogs. A young reader’s curiosity will be piqued as they consider the unique attributes of the individual creatures that make up a species, perhaps sparking the light of conservation in their hearts and minds.
My thoughts: "An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night" is an introduction to the natural history of amphibians - toads, frogs, bullfrogs, etc.
Andrew Toad is despairing over the fact that he is an ordinary toad and not a frog or bullfrog as he is being ridiculed by the other amphibians. Mother toad explains to him how he is a valuable individual as an ordinary toad and not to worry. But he prevails upon mother toad to let him visit grandfather toad who has lots of answers. Along the way other critters are met in the dark woods and his encounters are all learning experiences for the critters, toad, and our young readers.
Ultimately, Toad learns that being himself, just an ordinary toad, is important and good. That is a valuable lesson for the reader to take away from the story as well. Ordinary toads are important and each of us is important.
The illustrations are darkly colorful and portray the various critters so that children can enjoy and sense the "feelings."
I can recommend this book and see it can be used as a multi-tasking tool by the parent and educator.
GIVEAWAY: One copy of An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night is being offered by the author to one of Chat With Vera's readers. Use the Rafflecopter entry form below. Begins August 26 ENDS September 16 @ 12:01 a.m. ET. Open for US addresses only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway About the author: Joanne is the author of The Tiniest Tiger children’s book and the award-winning website The Tiniest Tiger’s Conservation Cub Club. Inspired by her cat Gracey, Joanne transitioned from a career in specialty food marketing to writing and studying all cats big and small. She has a Master of Zoology GFP from Miami University and an MBA from Ohio University. She recently spent time in Kenya and Namibia learning about lions and cheetahs.
About the illustrator: Rachael Mahaffey is an award-winning freelance artist and illustrator located in the historic area of Charleston, South Carolina. She specializes in digital art media, but loves to experiment with new art techniques. Rachael has drawn since early childhood and turned her hobby into her career after graduating from the Art Institute in 2003. She loves to work with authors to make their imaginations come to life.
DISCLOSURE: I was given a complimentary copy by the author in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are solely my own and I was under no obligation to write a positive review. The giveaway copy is also provided by the author and will be mailed directly to the winner.
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| ISBN: 978-0-9890088-0-8 Softcover: $17 |
My thoughts: "An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night" is an introduction to the natural history of amphibians - toads, frogs, bullfrogs, etc.
Definition: am·phib·i·an amˈfibēən Zoology noun: amphibian; plural noun: amphibians a cold-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that comprises the frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders. They are distinguished by having an aquatic gill-breathing larval stage followed (typically) by a terrestrial lung-breathing adult stage.Having been written by a zoologist holding a master's degree, the factual information in the book is appreciated. However, sensing that this book is written for younger elementary children, the wordiness, scientific explanations, descriptions, and names could potentially get lost in the reading. Just how much and how elaborate is right for the child to encounter and when or what age? Some children can take a lot of factual detail and for some a little goes a long way. Parental and educator guidance might been helpful as the book is read to or read by the elementary child. Now let's just see what this "toad" story is all about....
Andrew Toad is despairing over the fact that he is an ordinary toad and not a frog or bullfrog as he is being ridiculed by the other amphibians. Mother toad explains to him how he is a valuable individual as an ordinary toad and not to worry. But he prevails upon mother toad to let him visit grandfather toad who has lots of answers. Along the way other critters are met in the dark woods and his encounters are all learning experiences for the critters, toad, and our young readers.
Ultimately, Toad learns that being himself, just an ordinary toad, is important and good. That is a valuable lesson for the reader to take away from the story as well. Ordinary toads are important and each of us is important.
The illustrations are darkly colorful and portray the various critters so that children can enjoy and sense the "feelings."
I can recommend this book and see it can be used as a multi-tasking tool by the parent and educator.
GIVEAWAY: One copy of An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night is being offered by the author to one of Chat With Vera's readers. Use the Rafflecopter entry form below. Begins August 26 ENDS September 16 @ 12:01 a.m. ET. Open for US addresses only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway About the author: Joanne is the author of The Tiniest Tiger children’s book and the award-winning website The Tiniest Tiger’s Conservation Cub Club. Inspired by her cat Gracey, Joanne transitioned from a career in specialty food marketing to writing and studying all cats big and small. She has a Master of Zoology GFP from Miami University and an MBA from Ohio University. She recently spent time in Kenya and Namibia learning about lions and cheetahs.
About the illustrator: Rachael Mahaffey is an award-winning freelance artist and illustrator located in the historic area of Charleston, South Carolina. She specializes in digital art media, but loves to experiment with new art techniques. Rachael has drawn since early childhood and turned her hobby into her career after graduating from the Art Institute in 2003. She loves to work with authors to make their imaginations come to life.
DISCLOSURE: I was given a complimentary copy by the author in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are solely my own and I was under no obligation to write a positive review. The giveaway copy is also provided by the author and will be mailed directly to the winner.
I learned the smallest toad is flea toad and the largest frog is Goliath frog. Neat site with a lot of interesting facts..
ReplyDeleteI did not know that there are 7,116 known amphibian species. Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I were at the dr with our daughter. she was one at the time. It was a frog book. She kept saying frog over and over agian but it was not sounding like frog but a bad work instead. Everyone was laughing so hard!
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 years ago, a friend of mine found a turtle out on his walking trips. He brought it home for my daughter, Abbie. She loved that turtle! We went to Summer school one morning and when we returned, her turtle had escape! We looked everywhere for it. It was on our deck, not far from our pool, but there was no way it could climb the steps and into the pool.....but all we could do was hope that it found a cool damp place to live. We never did find it. To this day, Abbie still talks about her turtle that got away.
ReplyDeleteI learned that making more golf courses takes away frog habitats. Can they still live in the ponds near the golf course?
ReplyDeletehad a friend who had a pet turtle it was so cute
ReplyDeleteheather hgtempaddy@hotmail.com
I had NO IDEA there were that many species of frogs. And my brother had a few ;) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI had tadpoles. My sons had a hermit crab that lasted quite a long time.
ReplyDeletenicolesender(at)yahoo(dot)com
Some caecilians give birth to young instead of tadpoles.
ReplyDeleteMy sister hates toads and one night when we were going to check on our mother she saw a toad and let out shreeeeeeek like you would NOT beleive! I thought they would end up having to take me to the hospital with a heart attack, I never let her forget it, and this was when we were both parents, she gets paid back though, her kids have teased her with them their entire lives, lol.
ReplyDeletewfnren(at)aol(dot)com
There are over 7,000 species of frogs!
ReplyDeletewfnren(at)aol(dot)com
I didn't know there were over 7,000 species
ReplyDeleteI didn't even need to read your post. The cover Frog captured my attention right off the bat! Thanks for sharing on the Kid Lit Blog Hop! Cheryl, Hop Hostess
ReplyDeletei learned that therea r over 7000 species of frogs i had no idea
ReplyDeleteheather hgtempaddy@hotmail.com
I learned that there are gastric brooders and they can shut down their gastric juices while rearing their young inside their stomachs!
ReplyDeletea frog went down my bathing suit in the pool I was so scared I jumped out and tore it off the embarrassment of my life
ReplyDeleteI learned that amphibians have permeable skin that allows them to absorb both water and oxygen directly from the environment, right through their skin.
ReplyDeleteI also learned that the Australian Stony Creek Frogs(Litoria wilcoxii and Litoria jungguy) occasionally build a sand nest for their eggs.
First I learned that this great site was there and I learned that the Goliath bullfrog is the largest frog.
ReplyDeletedawnmonroe83@gmail.com
I had tadpoles and turtles as pets as a child when my family spent time at a lake during the summer. What fond memories!
ReplyDeletenicolesender(at)yahoo(dot)com