WANDA AND THE FROGS

While walking through a park, young Wanda finds a puddle, made by the melting snow, full of tadpoles. She takes them to school in a big pink pail, where her teacher transfers them to an aquarium. The class gets to watch them grow, and Wanda is made “tadpole monitor.” One day, though, the teacher announces that it’s time to take them home to the creek. The whole class is distraught, Wanda most of all. She convinces the teacher that her parents will let her keep some of them. Needless to say, Mom and Dad are totally in the dark, but learn all about it the next morning when the frogs hop amok. Azore’s substantial text palatably folds in a bit of educational information, and Graham’s warm, subtle pastels merit multiple viewings. (Picture book. 5-8)