Toad Rage & Toad Heaven
by Morris Gleitzman

     While browsing the children's books in Barnes and Nobles for some books for my 11 year old, I came across the books "Toad Heaven" and "Toad Rage" by Morris Gleitzman and could not resist. I bought them on the spot. After all, it was about toads. I read each book in one night. It's a fast read intended for grades 3 - 6 which would be perfect for my 11 year old. I thought it was only fair that she do the book review for toadilytoads.com since it should be from a child's point of view. From an adult's point of view, the stories are a little, well, childish. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but unlike "Harry Potter" or "A Series of Unfortunate Events", these books didn't do as well a job of capturing our adult imaginations.

Review by Unicorn_Girl age 11.

     These two books are about fictional Cane toads that lived in Australia near a highway. One toad (who is the main character) is an adventerous toad named Limpy who wants to know why humans hate Cane toads so much. In the first book, "Toad Rage", Limpy and one of his cousins, Goliath, go out in search of the truth and meet up with a girl who is into sports. She enters a sports event and Limpy accidently lets out poison and she was told not to play , becuase the hosts of the event think that she had an injection of liquid that would make her play better. But eventually she realizes that she got toad poison in her and she then lets them go loose in a park. (That was very nice of her, but they aren't home!) Then, after that Limpy and Goliath go home to tell the others easier ways of getting food. The story goes to book two "Toad Heaven". They took a dead body that Limpy had saved and put honey over it and threw it up in the air and it was soon covered with flies. (Gross!!) But then, a car goes over the swamp and Limpy gets concerned that humans found out where they live and wanted to go and find a place called "Toad Heaven" where toads were treated like royalty. So Limpy, Goliath, and Limpy's sister, Charm go outside the swamp again to find "Toad Heaven". After what seemed like months, they learn the truth that there is no such place called "Toad Heaven". (First they go through islands, nature parks, and Limpy's cousin Marcus. He was a real pain!) Limpy was very brave, because of all he stood up to. And many toads then looked up to him. Goliath's main happiness is just eating. But he is very funny. Charm is sweet and caring. She remains calm no matter what the situation. Also in the back of these books is a glossary that tells you about certian Australian words that you may not understand. I overall enjoyed reading these books. I bet if you read these books, you would too.

Toadily Toads gives these books two flippers up. They are very sympathetic to Cane toads and for that alone, we are grateful. It's always nice to see somebody who understands that the tragedy in Australia is NOT the fault of the toads, but of the stupid humans who brought them to Australia in the first place. We thank the author for this lighthearted look at the plight of the unfortunate toads.



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