Toad?

[Jamie]

I'm rerererererereading this book right now, and this is the first time I paid attention to a particular passage from when Will and Lyra were in the bleak "suburbs" outside of the world of the dead: "....the only creature they saw was a toad as big as Will's foot, which could only flop in a pain-filled sideways heave as if it were horribly injured. It lay across the path, trying to move out of the way and looking at them as if it knew they meant to hurt it."
They have a brief discussion about whether or not killing this toad would be merciful, and then they move on.
For some reason, this description of the toad reminded me of the toad from Natalie Babbitt's "Tuck Everlasting", who ultimately became an immortal toad. I can't help but wonder if THIS toad, trapped in pre-death, is a nod to the "Tuck Everlasting" toad?
Too much of a stretch?