Tadpole's promise, by Jeanne WillisFrom Bogey Bear
Great books have surprise endings and this book is sure to surprise any child you read it too.  In fact, they may just stare at the last page with their eyes wide open.  The pictures dominate the story - the words are simple, sparce, yet effective.  Children will howl with surprise and laughter when they finally get the dramatic finish.  Jeanne Willis writes great books - one of my favorites.

About the Book
The award-winning, unpredictable picture book from this best-selling author/artist team is now available for the first time in paperback. Tadpole loves his rainbow friend, the caterpillar, and she tells him she loves everything about him. "Promise that you will never change," she says. But as the seasons pass and he matures, his legs grow, and then his arms—and what happens to his beautiful rainbow friend?

As he sits on his lily pad, digesting a butterfly, Tadpole little realizes that now he will never know! Follow the predictable changes of a tadpole and a caterpillar to their natural conclusion in this award winning picture book.

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

More From School Library Journal
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 the pond where a caterpillar and a tadpole meet and fall in love. 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.

From Sunday Times
Breaks the mould in form as well as content.

About the Author
Jeanne Willis is the author of many books for children, including Tadpole's Promise, I Hate School, I Want to Be a Cowgirl, and the popular Professor Xargle series, all illustrated by Tony Ross. Ms. Willis lives with her husband and children in London, England.

About the Illustrator
Tony Ross was born in England and studied at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. He is the illustrator of Tadpole's Promise, I Hate School, and I Want to Be a Cowgirl, all by Jeanne Willis, as well as the popular Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger. Many of his more than fifty children's books have won awards throughout the world. Mr. Ross lives with his wife and daughter in Cheshire, England.

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