From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6 - In this sequel to
Toad Rage (Random, 2004), a young Australian cane toad longs to find a place where his family can live safely from the humans who seem to delight in squashing them. After an encounter with a conservationist, Limpy mistakenly believes that he has been injected with a virus that will wipe out his species. Hearing stories of a fabled "national park" where living things are protected, he sets out, hoping to find this refuge for his family before he dies. This is not a philosophical animal quest in the mold of Richard Adams's
Watership Down (Scribner, 1974), but a rather darkly comic fantasy. Limpy and his two traveling companions - his slow, pugnacious cousin and his timid little sister - are a scruffy but oddly endearing crew. He is the brains of the outfit - a somewhat reluctant leader who manages to guide the others through encounters with militant fire ants, crocodiles, and a boatload of tourists. The often-raucous dialogue includes lots of body humor and gross-out descriptions of toad diet and personal habits. Even death is a frequent source of amusement, from the toads' eerie use of a flattened relative as an insect trap to the companions' unsettling experiences among stuffed souvenir cane toads in a gift shop. Readers will appreciate the combination of rowdy humor and adventure as well as the emphasis on individual courage and achievement.
- Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Morris Gleitzman was born in Lincolnshire and moved to Australia in his teens. He worked as a paperboy, a shelf-stacker, a frozen chicken thawer, an assistant to a fashion designer and more before taking a degree in Professional Writing at Canberra College and becoming a writer. He has written for TV, stage, newspapers and magazines but is best known for his hugely successful children's books including Two Weeks With the Queen, Bumface and Once.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.