Dad is a lovable frog with "big, buggy eyes, strong legs, and a huge mouth," and little Tad follows him everywhere. When tucked into his underwater bed, Tad rebels and climbs right out, preferring to sleep next to Dad on his lily pad. Disturbing nights ensue, as the boisterous tadpole tickles and splashes, wiggles, kicks, and pokes. Soon Tad learns to hop and sing and extend his sticky tongue to catch bugs and beds down on his own. Now Dad can't sleep and screams, "Frog-Gone-It!" Shamefaced, he admits that he needs the company of his child to help him go to sleep. Stein has produced a humorous treatment of a common bedtime problem. Brilliant watercolors accented with crayon zing with energy in splashy two-page spreads. The green amphibian's round pink mouth humorously "BUURRPPs" with noise. Dad's comical face expresses gloom, dismay, and pride over Tad's antics. Parents will recognize the bleary-eyed adult's eyes when he says, "Is it morning already?"

PreS-Gr 1 Little tadpole worships his impressive frog father and wants to be a great swimmer, jumper, singer, and voracious bug consumer just like him. Unwilling to be apart from his dad, Tad follows him everywhere, including his lily pad bed. The wriggly, noisy youngster keeps his poor parent up each night until sleep-deprived Dad kicks him out, only to find out that perhaps cuddly company was better all along. Stein's cartoonish illustrations are comically expressive, deftly conveying the energy of the wee frog and the exasperation of his dad with thick black strokes filled with swampy watercolor washes in mixed layouts ranging from spreads to cleverly focused vignettes. Children will laugh at Tad's antics while parents will sympathize with father frog's disturbed sleep. VERDICT A wonderful bedtime or froggy-themed storytime read. Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY