Tadpoles -- Matt James, Hardcover

One rainy morning, a father and son bond over a walk through a field full of freshly formed ponds teeming with tadpoles.

In this tender reflection on the fleeting rhythms of the natural world and the enduring love of family, a boy and his father spend a morning exploring an ephemeral pond, a delicate nursery formed by rainfall, perfect for sheltering tadpoles from predators as they grow. The boy's father doesn't live with him anymore, and the ponds may only be temporary, but together they make memories that just might last a lifetime.

With Tadpoles, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winning author and illustrator Matt James draws from his own memories as a parent and as a child to tell a wistful story that will be instantly recognizable to any families sharing memories of exploring together. For an extra treat, additional material at the back of the book enthusiastically outlines the habitats and life cycles that make up these special amphibian spaces.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Author: Matt James
Publisher: Neal Porter Books
Published: 05/30/2023
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 11.00h x 9.20w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780823450053
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 03/15/2023 pg. 64
Publishers Weekly 03/27/2023
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2023

About the Author
Matt James has won many prestigious awards including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the New Mexico Book Award and the Governor General's Award for Illustration. He illustrated When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge and The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson. His author-illustrator debut, The Funeral, was named a New York Times and New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children's Book. As a child Matt liked to trace comics and pretend that tennis racquets were guitars --now he lives in Toronto and behaves more like a grown up.