From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4?Here is the strange, but true (and often amusing) story of how 101 dinner-plate sized toads grew into a national nuisance. Early in the 1900s, Australian sugarcane farmers imported giant toads (Bufo marinus) from Central and South America to eat the beetles that were destroying their crops. As the amphibians thrived and multiplied, it became apparent that they vastly preferred city life with its well-watered lawns and abundance of food to the hardship of pursuing beetles across the hot, dry cane fields. Boots left out on porches made comfortable sleeping places. Some people even treated the toads like pets. However, these appealing creatures are also poisonous. As they multiplied, people began to understand that too much of anything is not good. Whimsical toads peep around corners and parade across roads in this entertaining look at a very serious subject. Ellis's carefully positioned animals charm and engage readers without sacrificing scientific accuracy. A blinking eye, a leg drooping over a flowerpot, a mouth open to a bug, all serve to personify and endear them to readers. The text is equally engaging. Simply told and yet highly informative, it shows how we can never be sure what will happen when a plant or animal is introduced to a new habitat. Two pages of additional facts as well as maps showing toad distribution add the final flourish to a fascinating story, well told.?Lisa Wu Stowe, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 5^-8. Seibert's "true tale" about nature takes readers to Australia. Beetles and their hungry grubs were destroying the sugarcane crops in Australia, so bringing 101 giant toads from South America to eat the beetles seemed like a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, the toads found the beetles too hard to catch and moved into town instead, gathering under street lights to munch on bugs. Because the nine-inch toads spurt poison when squeezed or bitten, they have few predators and have been able to settle in the area and multiply. Seibert tells the story in an entertainingly chatty style, with Ellis' colored pencil illustrations giving the toads a certain comical dignity, which holds firm even when one is dressed as a doll by a child. The final spread includes questions and answers about the toads and a map of their movement across Australia.
Susan Dove Lempke
