Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Little toads should never play in the road!A little toad carelessly squats in the middle of the road hungrily watching a fly buzz by. "Who's that coming down the road? / Oh yikes! Oh yikes! / It's a… // Bear on a bike! / Everyone shout: / Look out! Look out! // SKID! SCREECH! BAM!" Bear and bike end up in a ditch, and the bear yells at the little toad. What would its mama say? Unsurprisingly, the little toad does not listen, and soon along comes a top-hatted croc in a car…and there's another crash. Both animals admonish the amphibian to no avail. Along comes a vole in a van (in the picture, it looks an awful lot like Jerry Garcia driving a VW microbus), and it too goes "BAM!" When, finally, along comes mother toad in a tow truck, readers hear "Hey, little love, get out of the way! / You could get hurt. That's no place to play." A musician as well as a writer and illustrator, Shaskan pens a tale that begs to be sung, and it's likely audiences will soon pick up the tune. The call-and-response construction of the tale will lend itself well to performing for preschoolers. The bright, heavily lined, digitally created illustrations resemble block prints and feature smiling (or shouting) big-eyed animals in full-bleed, double-page spreads. A catchy, cautionary tale. (Picture book. 2-7)

Horn Book

A toad plays in the street, causing animals to "SKID! SCREECH! BAM!" After crashing their vehicles, each driver tells the toad to move: "What do you think your mama would say?" They find out when Mama drives up in a tow truck. Repetition in the singsongy rhyming text is tiresome but will encourage participation. The Photoshop illustrations are energetic in a cartoony way.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Little toads should never play in the road!A little toad carelessly squats in the middle of the road hungrily watching a fly buzz by. "Who's that coming down the road? / Oh yikes! Oh yikes! / It's a… // Bear on a bike! / Everyone shout: / Look out! Look out! // SKID! SCREECH! BAM!" Bear and bike end up in a ditch, and the bear yells at the little toad. What would its mama say? Unsurprisingly, the little toad does not listen, and soon along comes a top-hatted croc in a car…and there's another crash. Both animals admonish the amphibian to no avail. Along comes a vole in a van (in the picture, it looks an awful lot like Jerry Garcia driving a VW microbus), and it too goes "BAM!" When, finally, along comes mother toad in a tow truck, readers hear "Hey, little love, get out of the way! / You could get hurt. That's no place to play." A musician as well as a writer and illustrator, Shaskan pens a tale that begs to be sung, and it's likely audiences will soon pick up the tune. The call-and-response construction of the tale will lend itself well to performing for preschoolers. The bright, heavily lined, digitally created illustrations resemble block prints and feature smiling (or shouting) big-eyed animals in full-bleed, double-page spreads. A catchy, cautionary tale. (Picture book. 2-7)

School Library Journal (Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

PreS-Gr 1Toad sits in the middle of the road, playing with his friend, a fly, when along comes Bear on a bike. "Everyone shout: Look out! Look out!" Bear crashes with a loud "Skid! Screech! Bam!" He warns the young toad that a road is no place to play. "Vamoose! Skedaddle! Without delay!/What do you think your mama would say?" Croc in a car and Vole in a van follow the same pattern as Bear, creating a pileup of wrecked vehicles. When Mama Toad arrives in her tow truck, one wonders if she's worried for her baby's safety or if the situation was designed to drum up some towing business for her. The digital art is attractive, but the high-energy text dominates. Sets of rhythmic, rhyming phrases are repeated throughout, allowing children to join in on the telling. As each new animal is introduced, it is first shown in silhouette, giving kids the opportunity to guess what it is. This boisterous read-aloud is sure to delight young listeners, both one-on-one and in groups. VERDICT Catchy and interactive, this is a good choice for preschool storytime; recommended for most public libraries.Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA