Tadpole's promise
(Book)

This book reads from top to bottom, rather than from left to right. Vertical spreads surrounded by a white border depict a love affair between a caterpillar (on a willow leaf on the upper page) and tadpole (in a pond on the lower half of the spread). ?She was his beautiful rainbow, and he was her shiny black pearl.? The tadpole promises the caterpillar never to change, but ?as sure as the weather changes, the tadpole could not keep his promise.? The caterpillar interprets each developmental change?tadpole?s new legs, arms, and the disappearance of his tail?as signs of betrayal, and finally, distraught at her lover?s perversity, crawls up her tree and ?crie[s] herself to sleep.? A split-screen effect shows a wintry scene in which a cocoon rests on a barren branch against a gray sky while, below, the frog at the blue pond?s bottom exhales in white heart shapes. A butterfly emerges, determined to forgive her lover. An already adult-themed tale then takes a rather sadistic turn: she flies toward the frog on a lily pad and then the frog ?swallowed her in one great gulp.? Although the setting remains consistent on each page, Ross (I Hate School) keeps readers? visual interest by depicting developmental changes in the characters, seasonal changes in the natural world and by including running sight gags involving the submerged antics of fish and tadpoles. Ages 4-8. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

K-Gr 4-Beginning with pages that open vertically instead of horizontally, this tongue-in-cheek tale takes a typical love story and sets it squarely-and amusingly-on end. Ross's vibrantly hued pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons depict the edge of a pond where a caterpillar and a tadpole meet and fall in love: "She was his beautiful rainbow, and he was her shiny black pearl." Perched on a leaf above the water, she smiles down at her sweetheart and asks him to "Promise you'll never change." Although he agrees, some vows are difficult to keep, and when they next meet, he has sprouted two legs. She forgives him, but after he breaks his promise twice more and now looks more like a frog than her "shiny black pearl," the lovelorn larva ends the affair and cries herself to sleep (sequestered in a cocoon). Meanwhile, the melancholy frog sulks around the pond, making heart-shaped air bubbles that rise to the surface and burst. When the caterpillar awakens, now a butterfly, she decides to forgive her beloved and flies above the water to find him. Without a thought, the frog swallows her whole, and then returns to wondering about whatever happened to his "beautiful rainbow." Willis strikes the perfect balance between the deadpan telling and the humorously overblown dialogue shared by the star-crossed pair, while the artwork masterfully enhances each and every nuance. Enjoy this funny story on its own merits or try using it to lighten up a science lesson.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A former caterpillar searches for her true love, a tadpole who has turned into a frog, only to be eaten by him: he doesn't recognize her as a butterfly. This isn't played for laughs, and the disjuncture between the art's whimsical anthropomorphism and the tragic plot twist may not sit right with some readers, although the storytelling is undeniably fleet. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

In this deceptively innocuous love story, a caterpillar and a polliwog pledge their love, promising each other that they will never change. Fat chance, obviously: Each time they reunite, polliwog has grown new limbs. When he loses his tail, the caterpillar declares her heart is broken and huffs off to nurse her sorrows in a cocoon. Ross illustrates this economically told tale with equally sketchy watercolors, creating a serene natural setting, but turning it sideways so that the gutter becomes the boundary between land and water, and keeping background detail to a minimum to maintain visual focus on the rainbow-hued caterpillar and her "shiny black pearl." In the end, she emerges rather different in form herself, but when she repentantly flutters down to a certain frog at the water's edge, the romance comes to an abrupt and fatal end. The setup being perfect enough to leave even adult readers unsettled, this makes a promising addition to the "share if you dare" list, next to, say, Chris Raschka's Arlene Sardine (1998). (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This book reads from top to bottom, rather than from left to right. Vertical spreads surrounded by a white border depict a love affair between a caterpillar (on a willow leaf on the upper page) and tadpole (in a pond on the lower half of the spread). "She was his beautiful rainbow, and he was her shiny black pearl." The tadpole promises the caterpillar never to change, but "as sure as the weather changes, the tadpole could not keep his promise." The caterpillar interprets each developmental change—tadpole's new legs, arms, and the disappearance of his tail—as signs of betrayal, and finally, distraught at her lover's perversity, crawls up her tree and "crie[s] herself to sleep." A split-screen effect shows a wintry scene in which a cocoon rests on a barren branch against a gray sky while, below, the frog at the blue pond's bottom exhales in white heart shapes. A butterfly emerges, determined to forgive her lover. An already adult-themed tale then takes a rather sadistic turn: she flies toward the frog on a lily pad and then the frog "swallowed her in one great gulp." Although the setting remains consistent on each page, Ross (I Hate School) keeps readers' visual interest by depicting developmental changes in the characters, seasonal changes in the natural world and by including running sight gags involving the submerged antics of fish and tadpoles. Ages 4-8. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

K-Gr 4-Beginning with pages that open vertically instead of horizontally, this tongue-in-cheek tale takes a typical love story and sets it squarely-and amusingly-on end. Ross's vibrantly hued pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons depict the edge of a pond where a caterpillar and a tadpole meet and fall in love: "She was his beautiful rainbow, and he was her shiny black pearl." Perched on a leaf above the water, she smiles down at her sweetheart and asks him to "Promise you'll never change." Although he agrees, some vows are difficult to keep, and when they next meet, he has sprouted two legs. She forgives him, but after he breaks his promise twice more and now looks more like a frog than her "shiny black pearl," the lovelorn larva ends the affair and cries herself to sleep (sequestered in a cocoon). Meanwhile, the melancholy frog sulks around the pond, making heart-shaped air bubbles that rise to the surface and burst. When the caterpillar awakens, now a butterfly, she decides to forgive her beloved and flies above the water to find him. Without a thought, the frog swallows her whole, and then returns to wondering about whatever happened to his "beautiful rainbow." Willis strikes the perfect balance between the deadpan telling and the humorously overblown dialogue shared by the star-crossed pair, while the artwork masterfully enhances each and every nuance. Enjoy this funny story on its own merits or try using it to lighten up a science lesson.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.