Tadpole's Promise

I absolutely love this book and cannot recommend it highly enough for all ages, as it tells the amusing tale of a caterpillar and tadpole who fall in love and promise one another to never change. The caterpillar becomes annoyed when her beloved tadpole develops into a frog, but she goes through some changes of her own. One of the most gratifying endings of any children's book I've read recently, and a useful book for those of us who still try to incorporate a little science into school. A MUST READ! To view this and other cool short book recommendations, visit the Lazy Readers' Book Club at [...]

The tadpole and the caterpillar are best friends, and promise never to change. The caterpillar is aghast and hurt when the tadpole becomes a frog, and the frog doesn't even recognize his true love when she becomes a beautiful butterfly. [SPOILER ALERT] But, through a miracle, they realize what has happened and fall in love again...in a deeper, more mature, accepting affection... NOT! The frog gobbles up the butterfly in one happy gulp! What a relief to see a book that acknowledges that some promises were not ever possible to keep, whatever the good intentions, and how refreshing to see a story about animals that accepts who eats whom. The first time I read it, I was horrified that this book, which cleverly lured me into a little metaphor for relationships, trust, and acceptance so violently jarred me into reality. A few re-readings and I was in admiration, and then I was laughing. I believe that kids, who are a bloodthirsty group in general, will laugh, too.

Being that the Editorial Review explains the story in full detail I won't reiterate the ending, which is the crux of this story. I checked this book out from the library because my daughter is very interested in tadpoles and frogs. I must say that I was aghast when I read the ending of this story. Luckily (so I thought) I read it on my own while my daughter was in bed. Being that days earlier we released a monarch butterfly that we had from the caterpillar stage, I figured this was NOT a book for my daughter. I made the mistake of leaving the book out though and she saw it and begged me to read it to her, which I did reluctantly. She LOVED it!! She laughed hysterically at the ending. I was worried that she would be upset, but there sat my 4 year old laughing and laughing, "Read it again, read it again!!" That gave me permission to love the story and the uniqueness of it. I and every other adult that I gave it to thought there would be the happy couple at the happy ending because the caterpillar would see the error of her ways once she changed into a butterfly (ho hum, yawn). Each was just as shocked as I was at the outcome. Every kid we shared it with thought it was soooo funny. Because of the surprise ending, my daughter is very eager to share the book and she delights in the reader's reaction. She gets to experience the surprise over and over through each reader. I find the vertical format to be a clever arrangement for this sky and underwater story. I also like the illustrator's style and feel that he adds to the story with little extras, like a fish chasing some other tadpoles (a bit of foreshadowing) and vice versa. I also like the frog offering the caterpillar a water plant much like a person offering a bouquet of flowers when asking for forgiveness. And the ironic image of the frog with the caterpillar's new wings (her change which we thought was going to make all well) sticking out of his mouth: priceless. Although be it a bit (ok, a lot) unorthodox, this is a story about accepting each others differences...and if you're mean you pay for it! :o) Needless to say, this book is on our wish list ready for our next purchase and will also be given as gifts...but only to those we know can handle it.

Tadpole and Caterpillar meet, fall in love, and promise each other to never change. But time moves forward and sometimes change is inevitable. This book works for adults, since the issues of love, change, growth, and forgiveness can be debated. It works for teens, who will love the ending. And it works for children, who are will definately "get" and enjoy the ending. Format: one of the great things about the book is that it uses the book itself as part of the design. So, yes, as pointed out, this books is "sideways", but that is because the "top" part is the air and the "bottom" the water.

This book is fabulous. I work at an environmentally-themed camp and shared it with both younger and older children who offered insight and ideas about the ending. I also know that they wouldn't have tolerated yet another mushy story about animals. Maybe kids deserve the real deal every now and then. After all, frogs do eat butterflies and change is inevitable. It's a wonderful book. A book for all seasons.