999 Tadpoles Find A New Home

Ken Kimura (author)

Yasunari Murakami (illustrator)

Gecko Press, New Zealand: 2010

ISBN: 9781877467271

Genres: animal stories, humour, picture book

Issues: environment

When an eagle tries to scoop Father Frog out of the very small pond shared by Mrs Frog and the family of 999 froglets, something unexpected happens.

The eagle finds that Mr Frog is unusually heavy – probably something to do with the fact that the whole family have leapt to the rescue. In a wonderfully quirky, humorous story, the frog family find that what could have been a disaster turns out to be a blessing as the eagle unintentionally moves them from their overcrowded small pond to one large enough to house the entire family.

Murakami's simple, naive illustrations have a comical element that echoes the whimsical nature of the story. Young children will laugh out loud at the idea of a string of froglets hitching a ride with an eagle.

Delightful.