Toads on Toast. Linda Bailey. Illustrated by Colin Jack. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2012. 32 pp., hardcover, $18.95. ISBN 978-1-55453-662-7. Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-7. Review by Carla Epp. **** /4

excerpt:

“Ah,” said Fox, “here’s a good one. Toad Legs.

“Noooooo!” said Mamma. “Not their legs! They have such beautiful legs.”

“I noticed,” said Fox, licking his lips. “Especially the weensy ones.”

In Linda Bailey’s Toads on Toast, Fox eats the same boring dinner every night – boiled toad. Sick and tired of eating this day in and day out, he decides it is time for a change. At the bookstore, Fox realizes that there are tons of ways to cook up toads, and he realizes his mistake has been catching old toads when he should have been catching young, tender ones. That night, Fox sets out to catch some young toads to try one of his new recipes, but he doesn’t count on their Mamma coming to defend them. Mamma tries to convince Fox not to eat her babies, even offering herself up instead, but to no avail. Eventually she tries a different tack, suggesting a ‘secret’ family recipe for ‘Toad in a Hole’. Fox isn’t sure at first, but he ends up loving it, and it turns out to be a recipe that they can all enjoy.

     Toads on Toast is really funny and is written in an accessible way, using language that mimics the way people talk in real life. Bailey manages to take something that could be upsetting (eating baby toads), and she makes it funny. The story is also a lesson in trying new things and being creative under pressure. The cartoon illustrations are wonderful – colourful and detailed. The facial expressions add to the humour of the story, and it is funny to see how all the baby toads are misbehaving in the background while Mamma tries to bargain with and then distract the Fox. This book would work well if read out loud, particularly if the reader used different voices for Mamma and Fox. Toads on Toast is a great addition for all libraries.

Highly Recommended.

Carla Epp is a librarian with Winnipeg Public Library.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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