The Mysterious Tadpole

ISBN 10: 0812404939 ISBN 13: 9780812404937

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 2004

Synopsis

It's Louis's birthday and Uncle McAllister has brought him a very special gift&150a tadpole all the way from Scotland! Louis can hardly wait for Alphonse to grow into a frog. But it soon becomes clear that Alphonse is not turning into any ordinary frog. First Alphonse outgrows his jar, then the sink, and then the bathtub! This new edition of The Mysterious Tadpole boasts reimagined story twists and entirely new illustrations. The lovable giant of a tadpole has grown into something even more wonderful!

About this title

Review:

Steven Kellogg's award-winning picture book The Mysterious Tadpole, first published in 1977, is back with wonderful new illustrations and additional "nuances of character, sequence, and plot" in this fabulous 25th-anniversary edition. The story begins when Uncle McAllister brings a "wee bit of Scotland"--a tadpole to be precise--to Louis for his birthday. Delighted, Louis names him Alphonse and brings him to school for show-and-tell. A diet of cheeseburgers allows the creature to grow by leaps and bounds, and he soon outgrows his jar, the kitchen sink, and the bathtub. Finally, when the high school swim team learns of Alphonse's presence in their pool the hard way, Uncle McAllister gets a call: "'Oh, the wee tadpole?' he said. 'Why, he came from the lake nearby. It's the one folks call Loch Ness.'" Louis's ingenuity (he takes on a paper route to pay for his pet's burgers, and that of his friend the librarian (she thinks they can use the aquatic Alphonse to find pirate treasure and use the money to build him his own swimming pool) are heartwarming and hilarious. Children who are attached to a pet will completely relate to Louis's devotion to his unusual new friend. Kellogg's luminous illustrations of the ever-expanding monster and bewildered townspeople are expressive, often hysterical, and full of tiny details that demand many rereadings. A treat! (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

Steven Kellogg is a beloved author and illustrator who has published more than 100 picture books, including the classics The Mysterious Tadpole, Can I Keep Him?, The Island of the Skog, and Is Your Mama a Llama?, and Pinkerton, Behave!, which was on Horn Book's and Booklist’s Best of the Year lists and led to four sequels. Kellogg is a winner of the Regina Medal for his lifetime contribution to children’s literature. His books have received numerous accolades, such as being named Reading Rainbow featured selections and winning the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Irma Simonton Black Award, the IRA-CBC Children’s Choice Award, and the Parents’ Choice Award.

About this edition

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0812404939
• ISBN 13: 9780812404937
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Kellogg Steven