Tad and Dad

by David Ezra Stein

Caldecott Honor winner David Ezra Stein's funny--and tender--tale of a growing tadpole who loves his frog dad so much he never gives him a moment's peace.

Tad the tadpole spends every day with his awesome dad, and shares a lily pad with him at night. It's always been that way . . . but little Tad is growing up, and quickly becoming as awesome--and large--as his dad. As his new parts sprout, he's learning to swim and hop and croak just like Dad. Dad is very proud, but when Tad's accomplishments carry over into nighttime--bringing lots of kicking and croaking in his sleep--the lily pad is no longer a bed for two. Even Tad finally realizes it's time for a lily pad of his own, and all is well--at least until Dad realizes how much he misses Tad.

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

40 pages, Board Book

First published April 21, 2015

About the author

David Ezra Stein is an author-illustrator whose previous books include LEAVES, winner of an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. He lives in Kew Gardens, New York.

Reviews

[Melki]

A sweet tale of fatherly love and extreme frogginess. It ain't easy being green a dad sometimes when your little one wants to do anything but sleep.





Simple, yet effective illustrations by the author.

[Sheila]

Awww, this is a story of father-son relationship, with son slowly growing and thriving and if you think I'm not emotional, you're wrong

[Hannah Showalter]

Just okay in my opinion!

[Annabelle]

Also very cute

[Carol V]

Tad and Dad is a great family story. As a tadpole grows up under the watchful eye of his dad, he wants to be just like dad...all day and all night long...with no time to rest. As he gets bigger, he gets more rambunctious and eventually dad's patience begins to grow thin. Until finally, Tad makes one too many SWOOSHES. When Tad finally grants dad a night of uninterrupted sleep, is this what dad really want?

Every moment of raising a child is so important, but a good night's sleep is also important for all. How can a family manage quality time together as well as get needed rest?

What a hoot, reading how David Ezra Stein designed the illustrations of this book with child on lap and another crawling nearby! This is what makes life a merry-go-round. Such a steady hand - both as an artist and as a nurturing parent!

Tad and Dad has great illustrations to capture the reader's attention. Love the natural flow of the art - the lines and outlines draw the reader into the story. Keep an eye on the moon throughout the story. Loved its progression into a full moon, as time passed. Notice it disappears at the stormy point of story and reappears as the storm passes!

Caldecott potential? Yes!

[Benji Martin]

I like this one, but it did hit a little bit too close to home fore me, right now.

[Shiloah]

Super cute!

[Sylvie]

My dad snores too!

[Mrs. A A]

My son loves this book🥹

[Ronan Crutchfield]

The Imagination Library sent me this book just in time for Father’s Day! I liked reading it with my dad!

[Thomas Vandiver]

I love kicking and croaking and making a ruckus with dad. I can’t wait for him to show me how to eat flies.

[Christine]

Our free book from Dolly for the month! I like the story; it has my husband's type of humor. Kinda wish it was a boardbook as my son bent the ish out of it right off the back. It's not my favorite color pallet ever but the dad & son are cutely drawn.

[Moonkiszt]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

RTC. . .

[Laura Harrison]

I really enjoyed this latest offering from David Ezra Stein. Dramatic, bold illustrations. Love the various shades of green. Really cute and sweet (not overly sweet) story of a tadpole growing up and his love for his dad. It would make one awesome reading on Father's Day.

[Suzy]

Hilarious! Fills in a smattering of frog facts, while telling a parent-child story that will be all too familiar to readers.

[Gabi]

*3.5/5

[Mikayla Maglalang]

Tad and dad by David Ezra Stein was about a relationship between a father and his son. Throughout the book, the son clings to his father as he truly loves him so much. He looks up to him as a father figure and he wants to be just like him. Repeatedly throughout the book, Tad is always coming to bother his dad at night to sleep with him because he will miss him. Although the father may need his space he loves his son regardless and spends sweet moments with him. They sing together in the pond and eat breakfast together, and we see as readers that Dad is always there to cheer him on as he grows. As the book goes, visually we can see that the Dad is getting restless as it is hard for him to sleep at night when his son comes to sleep with him. In the end, we see that the Dad asks for his space at night so he can sleep well because he has not been sleeping. Tad gets sad about this as he knows he will miss his dad. In the end, when the Dad tries to sleep, both Tad and he realize he can’t sleep because he too will miss his son. They end the book by falling fast asleep together. This book closely relates to my central theme about love, because it demonstrates the wholesome relationship between father and son. It is clear that they share a lot of love for one another as they miss each other even at the little moments. I will say this warm fatherly relationship isn’t necessarily a universal experience for children. Much like how Sims Bishop discusses in her article, it would be wrong to assume that every child experiences this kind of relationship with a parent. A child could read this and be confused as to why her relationship with a parent figure isn’t as warm as it is displayed in the book.

[Mavis’s Dad]

This book explores the important relationship dads have with their children. Dad’s not so sure, but in the end, Tad convinces him the bond is unique.

Moral: Step up Dad - us kids are watching you.

Length: The perfect short story length with a striking balance of fun photos to fun words.

Favorite Line: “That night, I dreamt I was the best jumper in the world, like Dad.”

Overall Impression: This is more for the deadbeat dad than The Kid. Tad keeps on his dad about growing up and being just like him. Dad is the one struggling. Maybe his confidence is low. Perhaps long hours at the job site have him down. Perhaps addiction is playing a part; he does wiggle and poke and kick and croak quite a bit. We never know what Dad’s up to, but Tad is very pleased each day he grows closer to his father. It’s not a bad story, but it’s no barn burner either. It is a lily pad we’ll return to - especially on days Mavis’s Dad needs a pick-me-up.

[Ellwyn Autumn]

A humorous tale of a young frog named, Tad, who wants to be just like his dad, so much so that he never leaves his father's side. Night and day, he wiggles, swims, splashes and hops right alongside his dad. As Tad grows, the lily pad becomes too small for the two of them and things get pretty crowded.

A story that doesn't disappoint in delivering the timeless message of how fatherly love and encouragement help their children thrive.

[briz]

Adorable. Came via the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Pro-dads. Dads get really shafted in America's obsessively mom-centric "maternal instinct" culture. Hoo boy. The amount of times the school emails ME about something instead of him (all the time). The local neighborhood new parents group called: "Mamas". The guy at work who asks me, when I'm on a business trip, "so who's watching your kids?" :|

[Melissa Swistek]

As a parent, you often long for a moment of peace for yourself or a whole night of uninterrupted sleep. Then, when you are granted that night, you find yourself missing your little troublemaker and worried if they are okay. This is expressed well by Dad and we get to see things from the child’s perspective through the depiction of Tad in this book.

Charming characters with great conflict and resolution. I find this to be a book that can be enjoyed by both parent and child.

[Jenny]

This is our favorite book so far that we’ve received from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. You see Tad growing up. The relationship between Tad and his dad is so heartwarming and realistic. Love the storyline. The illustrations are cute too. We read it to our daughter with voices for Tad and his dad. She was obsessed with this book for a few weeks and kept grabbing it from her bookshelf and having us read it to her repeatedly, sometimes back to back haha.

[Samantha]

Cute book that shows the influence that parents have on offspring and that offspring can have on parents, in a really sweet way. The illustrations are still really cute. They aren't super finessed or smooth, and I like the doodle style that has more complicated artistic techniques lying underneath.

[Melissa]

The tone of this book is SPOT ON in terms of capturing both what it's like to be an adult with an exuberant kid AND to be an exuberant kid. I love the illustrations and the story and everything about this book. Kids and adults will enjoy it. Slightly too long for storytime - might work for preschoolers, definitely for lower elementary.

[Karen Dransfield]

I've been reading lots of picture books with frogs... and here is one.

Tad short for Tadpole spends every minute growing up around Dad. But he is getting bigger and things keep growing. His growing and wriggling carries over into night time keeping Dad awake...

A lovely Dad and son story, and about frogs.

[Matthew]

Call it a crazy reason to complain, but the font in this book was almost comically undersized. I'm not one of those readers that normally searches out the large print edition either. The writing didn't seem to fit with the page it was placed on. Maybe it was just edition I read, but wow, what an oversight on the printer's part.

[Elizabeth Stigers]

This book is so cute! It tells a story about a father and son who have a great relationship with each other. The son wants to be just like his dad and do everything that his dad does. At one point in the story, the son crawls into his dad's bed and begins kicking and croaking while his dad tries to sleep. His dad learns that once his son began sleeping in his own part of the pond, he missed him.

[Dolly]

This is a sweet story about a father and son. It's quite long for a very young child, so the board book exition confuses me a bit. The repetition and carroonish characters are sure to appeal to children, and the desire to crawl in bed with your parents is very relatable for younger children. Overall, it's a good book, but somewhat forgettable.

[Vivian]

A delightful read-aloud punctuated by vocal embellishments such as BUUURRPP, SPLASH, SPLOOOOOOOSH, FROG-GONE-IT, and I STILL CAN'T SLEEP!. Oh the trials of getting little ones to sleep by themselves. Kids and adults alike can relate to the joys of growing as related in this story.

[Jo Oehrlein]

Not a book to read if you're trying to get your kiddo to sleep in their own bed. :-)

Maybe a good story to pair with a science lesson on the lifecycle of a frog since it shows Tad growing from tadpole to big frog.