Tadpoles

March 15, 2023
Grades 1-3 In an engaging stream of seemingly random ruminations, a child thinks about frogs and clouds and then describes a field--once a garbage dump, now filled with old junk--where long rains leave what his dad calls an "ephemeral pond," in which frog eggs hatch into tadpoles. One day, after he watches the tadpoles for a long time, he sees them as afterimages on the sidewalk and even in the sky! In the splashy illustrations, a lad in a yellow raincoat and rubber boots rambles alone or with his parent through grassy puddles, nets a bucket full of tadpoles (then pours them back into the pond), and walks home smiling beneath heavy, tadpole-strewn clouds. Along with a personal reminiscence, James closes with notes on ephemeral ponds and the surprising number of small creatures that are dependent on them, so besides being fun to read either alone or aloud, this has an informational character.

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April 1, 2023
A child narrates their springtime adventures against the backdrop of a field of old junk across from their school. It's easy to get into the head of the child protagonist, as the stream-of-consciousness narration is so perfectly childlike. At the end of a school day during which a girl brags about finding a two-headed frog, the child's father meets them and walks them home in the rain across the field, talking about clouds and listening to frogs until it's time to part ways. The child visits the field on their own, exploring the junk that lies about and remembering how they once screamed their anger and fear over their father's moving out into the old echo-y silo. The spring rains flood the field, forming an ephemeral pond where the child-dad duo catch, examine, and release the tadpoles they find. James' artwork combines acrylic, ink, gouache, cut paper, and photos. Readers will almost be able to feel the bumps and ridges in the thickly textured illustrations. While the close bond between father and child is quite evident, what's unclear is what readers should take from this tale that jumps from topic to topic. Dad and the child share light skin and black hair; Dad sports a mustache. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A tale of father-child bonding full of visual appeal but unfocused in its storytelling. (notes about frogs and ephemeral ponds, author's note, further reading) (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from March 27, 2023
This thoughtful stream-of-consciousness outing from James (The Funeral) is voiced by a child who hunts for tadpoles with their father one rainy spring. In the field across from the child’s school, there’s an old silo. “Once,” the narrator remembers, “when my dad first moved to his new place, I stood in the silo and yelled every single swear word that I know.” After sound is shown emanating from the building, the father appears, then kneels and embraces the child. “I guess I was worried that he wouldn’t love me anymore, but my dad says that some things never change.” Now the two, portrayed with pale skin, wade through the pond that’s formed in the field, looking among the tadpoles for froglets (“My dad says that puddles like these are called ephemeral ponds”). Wordless spreads show the protagonist saying farewell to Dad with a small, brave smile, suggesting that the duo’s ebb and flow has grown easier. Multimedia art’s spattered, stroked textures convey the feel of pages left out in a storm in James’s portrait of transition, throughout which the setting and its fluctuating features prove quiet symbols of seasonal and personal transformation, as well as change as a sure thing. Ages 4–8. Agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Arts.

July 1, 2023
In this childlike, stream-of-consciousness narrative, James's (Nice Try, Charlie!, rev. 9/20) opening illustration depicts a child exiting a door, on the way to meet his father at his new place. There the two explore a nearby abandoned field teeming with frogs and tadpoles. It's the rainy season; first small, then larger puddles form. With great certainty the child tells readers about these creatures and their surroundings. "My dad says puddles like this are called ephemeral ponds. That means they won't last for very long." Here frogs hatch into tadpoles ("Frog eggs are called spawn," the boy relates), but not all thoughts are as certain. He shares how scared he was when his father moved out, scared that he wouldn't love him anymore, but the father reassures him that "some things never change." James's mixed-media illustrations in gouache, acrylics, and collage show both the factual and emotional parts of the text. The outside setting, rain-drenched and sweeping, depicts the science of which the child is so certain. But a sequence of small, intimate frames addresses his insecurities about his father, slowing down the action and encouraging readers to ponder these thoughts. Information on the life cycle of frogs and ephemeral ponds, an author's note about his own childhood explorations, and additional reading suggestions expand the text. This multilayered book comes full circle as the boy returns to the original door and his mother's warm embrace. Betty Carter

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

June 23, 2023

PreS-Gr 3-This meandering story is about a child who enjoys exploring. There is an empty field by the child's home, and although a girl at school tells the child that the field is poisonous, the child's dad says it's just a field. The child has noticed lots of things that people have left there, like empty bottles and even an old piano. When it rains, puddles form, and if it rains enough, it turns into an ephemeral pond, with tadpoles, which the child likes to observe. The misty acrylic, gouache, and ink illustrations give the scenes a wavy feel, as if readers are peering through layers of water to spy tadpoles and other living things beneath the surface. There is a reference to the father's leaving home and the child's subsequent grief, and then the narrative veers back to a scattered but poetic glimpse of tadpoles and how they grow. The inclusion of solid nonfiction information helps ground readers as does some light back matter. VERDICT A beautiful book about a child observing tadpoles doesn't have enough science information to be nonfiction and is without enough of a narrative arc to make it a compelling story.-Debbie Tanner

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2023
In this childlike, stream-of-consciousness narrative, James's (Nice Try, Charlie!, rev. 9/20) opening illustration depicts a child exiting a door, on the way to meet his father at his new place. There the two explore a nearby abandoned field teeming with frogs and tadpoles. It's the rainy season; first small, then larger puddles form. With great certainty the child tells readers about these creatures and their surroundings. "My dad says puddles like this are called ephemeral ponds. That means they won't last for very long." Here frogs hatch into tadpoles ("Frog eggs are called spawn," the boy relates), but not all thoughts are as certain. He shares how scared he was when his father moved out, scared that he wouldn't love him anymore, but the father reassures him that "some things never change." James's mixed-media illustrations in gouache, acrylics, and collage show both the factual and emotional parts of the text. The outside setting, rain-drenched and sweeping, depicts the science of which the child is so certain. But a sequence of small, intimate frames addresses his insecurities about his father, slowing down the action and encouraging readers to ponder these thoughts. Information on the life cycle of frogs and ephemeral ponds, an author's note about his own childhood explorations, and additional reading suggestions expand the text. This multilayered book comes full circle as the boy returns to the original door and his mother's warm embrace.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)