Toad on the Road: A Cautionary Tale – A Rhyming Picture Book with Call-and-Response for Kids

by Stephen Shaskan

With bouncy call-and-response text and vivid illustrations, this lively picture book from author-illustrator Stephen Shaskan is sure to have readers giggling along with Toad's silly antics. A perfect read-aloud!

Who’s that coming down the road?

Oh yikes! Oh yikes!

It’s a bear on a bike.

 

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Humor, Transport, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2017

Reviews

[Angie]

Did momma set up the toad so she would get more business for her towtruck? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Maggie]

4⭐️ ~ Another peak kids book

[Sebastian HM]

Toad on the frog! Ha! Just kidding. There's a bear riding a bike and once everyone freaked out. The bear said, "Skedaddle! Get out of the road before you get run over!" Puff! Scream! "What is your Mom gonna say?" Oh No! There's a Toad on the Road! And then, there is a Vole in a Van!

Did you like the book? Yes.

Once there was his Mom, a toad, on the road.

Is there anything you liked best about the book. Yes, the mother. And the heart at the end.

[Mary Lee]

So much fun for little ones and language learners! Rhyme, repetition, foreshadowing in the illustrations, big loud onomatopoeia.

[Grant Fontenot]

Cute, if a little repetitive. I suppose that's the point though. If you're children like playing in the road. Read this to them and hope they make the metaphoric leap from a baby toad to themselves. Alternatively, they might just attempt to save every toad that stumbles into the street, which might be counterproductive.

[Valencia]

Cute story! Great illustrations and rhyming text will appeal to preschoolers especially!

[Barbara]

Adorable book for preschoolers. Repetitive text lets little ones "read" with you.

[Craig Schorling]

This book was a lot of fun to read with the kids. They got the hang of it early on and we had a blast reading all the lines together.

[Nic]

Man, our toddler LOVES this book.

[Emily]

Almost as good as Shaskan's A Dog Is a Dog, which makes me happy.

[Mr. Cody]

Friendly reminder not to play in the road.

[Cristina Quattrone]

Super addictive rhyme. My toddler loves to fill in the blanks when I pause. Other family members think toad in the road is part of his mom’s tow business and scams people into crashing. Must know if others believe this as well!!!

[Jennifer]

Haha! The illustrations crack me up, and there's a fun opportunity for sound effects. Really want to try this one out at storytime.

[Mama Bibliosoph]

This cute and catchy story combines three great elements: vehicles, physical comedy, and a repeating storyline. And wow, is my son Luke ever obsessed with it.

A little toad plays on the road, but Oh no! Oh no!, we can see the silhouette of a vehicle approaching. Who's that coming down the road? The text asks and the child tries to guess the vehicle based on the shape of the silhouette. An additional phonemic clue (i.e. Oh, yikes! Oh, yikes! It's a...) will encourage some kids to guess the vehicle as you turn the page to where its revealed (Bear on a bike!). The vehicle swerves to avoid harming the toad (SKID! SCREECH! BANG!) and is trashed, but everyone is fine. After a few cycles of this, the last vehicle to arrive is a truck driven by the toad's mother, who finally yanks the little toad off the road.

Funny and predictable, this is a truly wonderful book for a child who benefits from interactive opportunities, physical humor, sound effects, and a strong repeating structure to attend to a book. Side bonus? A safety message about staying out of roadways!

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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is from a longer blog post about the best new books of 2017: http://www.lineupthebooks.com/summer-...

[Robin]

Really cute for preschoolers, especially when they are old enough to use the context clues to guess the next vehicle coming down the road.

[Peggy Archer]

A simple story told in rhyme about a toad sitting in the road, and the characters who try to avoid running into it. They all ask, 'What do you think your mama would say?' At the end we find out.

[Terri Curtis]

Perfect read-aloud for littles.

[Kelly]

Wonderful storytime book! Bright colors, simple rhyming story. I think children would really get this story and enjoy it.

[Casandria]

Perfect storytime book!
Toad
Transportation

[Sarah]

Great for a read-aloud; rhyming text, repetition of phrases.

[Robin Rockman]

This will make a cute Storytime book.

[Juliana Lee]

Oh no! Oh no! There's a toad in the road! Little Toad causes several traffic accidents by playing in the road until finally his mother arrives driving a tow truck. She gets him out of the road and cleans up the accidents.

[Sheri]

This cautionary tale about a toad on the road is fun and repeats a warning before the accidents happen. Lots rhyme and rhythm in this story and fun for the children to join in with the repeated parts. I would read this aloud to kids in preschool and lower elementary grades they would love the repeat and joining in.

[Becky Ransberger]

Cute story would be fun for a storytime read aloud. Has a fun rhythm to keep attention and opportunities for children to chant along.

[Alyssa Mandell]

A super funny story about a toad playing in a road. The animals keep driving towards him and crashes. Themes are; frogs, cars, and safety. Great read for storytime.

[Gail]

This will make a great read-a-loud for active participation.

[Katie Dicesare]

Love the repetition, the illustrations--especially the shadow like clues that students can use to guess who's coming down the road. Very fun and engaging for young readers.

[Sara Grochowski]

This book is a win! I love the call-out to the audience and the vole in the van is totally groovy.

[Edward Sullivan]

Lively call-and-response story makes great use of rhyme and repetition.

[MaryLibrarianOH]

Such a cute little toad is causing all kinds of trouble. Great repetitions and fun words for kids to join in with if you're reading it aloud.