Wednesday, August 21, 2013

An Ordinary Toad's Extraordinary Night by Joanne McGonagle, illustrated by Rachael Mahaffey


About 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 conversation in their hearts and minds.

More About Andrew the Toad:
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewtheToad

  • ISBN-13: 9780989008808
  • Publisher: Ainsley Press
  • Publication date: 5/17/2013
  • Pages: 80

Where to buy: Barnes and Noble, Amazon



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. Joanne lives in Ohio with Paul and Gracey.
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  .



My Thoughts

Andrew wants to know why he was not hatched a bullfrog. His mother tries to explain there is nothing wrong with being an ordinary toad. Bullfrogs and ordinary toads are both amphibians each one as important as the other to the ecosystem .  His mother knows the bullfrogs like to bully Andrew. Andrew just keeps silent when they tease him about his warts, short legs and the fact that they can jump and he can only hop. Later that night he goes to visit his grandfather in hopes his grandfather will give him some much needed advice.

What do you think he finds out on the trek to his grandfather's?

The author has written a tale about an ordinary toad from the mind's eye of a child toad. The story is educational in that she explains the differences in frogs and toads which both are amphibians. 

Children will enjoy reading how Andrew deals with the bullying of the bullfrogs and how he hops into some valuable information about amphibians. 

The illustrations cover each page, top to bottom, depicting the story of young Andrew a very cute ordinary toad along with other amphibians and their habitats. 

Whether reading this book or flipping through the pages you may see some unexpected predators that approach Andrew in the darkness on the pathway to his grandfather's home. 

I highly recommend this book.


I rated this book a 5 out of 5.




Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Author/Bostick Communications for review. I was in no way compensated for thes review.  This review is my honest opinion.


Bostick Communications

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