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Tadpole Rex
Rex is a tiny tadpole who can't wait to grow up and be big like everybody else. Unfortunately for Rex, he lives in a prehistoric swamp . . . and everybody else is a gigantic dinosaur. With a little time--and a lot of patience--Rex does grow, gaining arms and legs and, most importantly, a personality big enough to take on even the mightiest of his neighbors. Includes a note from the author about metamorphosis, prehistoric frogs, and the environmental challenges frogs face today.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
August 14, 2009
I had no desire to read this, despite all its accolades. I knew it'd gotten rave reviews, but feh, I'm not into dinos or amphibians. When my 4-year-old picked it out at the library, I sighed, expecting a slog...but WOW. The jumpy, unpredictable rhyme scheme is froggy and delightful, sophisticated AND kid-friendly. And the plot is so thoughtful -- it takes a few reads to get all the nuances. Maxine even likes to hear the author's afternote, explaining that tadpoles figuratively do have an inner tyrannosaurus because they start off as water-bound plant-eaters and turn into land-friendly meat-eaters. It's a great science intro for very little kids -- it facilitates discussion. And the oversized, bold art really is beautiful. Leap on Tadpole Rex!
May 4, 2008
Rhyming's not easy. It's not everyone in the world that can pull it off either. In fact, there have been so many picture books that rhyme and rhyme poorly that it has infected me. Now whenever I pick up a picture book and find the bouncy bouncy text, I instinctively cringe. I initially did this with this book too. On paper, Tadpole Rex doesn't sound like much. "Okay, so, it's about a frog and it lives, like, during the time of dinosaurs, right? And... uh... oh, it rhymes and the colors are done on the computer and there's this thing in the back that talks about how we're hurting the environment." Yeah, that sounds awful . . . if you haven't read it. As it turns out, Kurt Cyrus's story of a frog plumbing personal depths to tap into its own inner dinosaur is a smart, fun, ultimately realistic book filled with facts and a rhyme scheme that not only works but begs to be read aloud. For parents desperate for a dinosaur story that diverges away from the standard reptilian fare, Tadpole Rex is bound to be beloved.
When a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex stomps his way through a muddy swamp and leaves its footprints behind, the huge puddle is just the place for a little polliwog to begin to mature. Of course, as safe as a puddle sounds there are always threats to a polliwog's life, but by camouflaging itself in the mud it manages to survive long enough to grow to maturity. When legs and arms pop out, the inner dinosaur in Tadpole Rex comes out with an almighty, "Ribbet!". He hops past the mighty dinos, at last resting in a puddle where he can watch them unobserved. But today, "Gone are the dinosaurs, swept away / But hoppers and croakers are here to stay." The big guys have disappeared one way or another but frogs are omnipresent. "And somewhere inside / deep in their core / they all have an inner / tyrannosaur." A Note from the Author at the back of the book explains that frogs predate the dinosaurs by at least 100 million years and will hopefully, with care, continue to be around in the future.
As I've mentioned before, if you're going to rhyme then you better do it right. And Cyrus, for all that his pictures could be enough if he wanted them to be, does it right. "Stomp! went the dinosaur. Squish! went the goop. / Up came the bubbles - / Bloop. / Bloop. / Bloop." They scan, they work within the context of the story, and they sound lovely when tripped off one's tongue. The rule of thumb regarding rhyming picture books is whether or not the book would be better off if the story was NOT in rhyme. For example, if we could hear the story of Tadpole Rex told in a straightforward matter-of-fact manner, would it make for a better book? Survey says no. I'm sure you could do it if you wanted to, but the lure of this story is that this frog, from a tadpole onward, acts as if he has a dinosaur inside of him. "For somewhere inside him, deep in his core, / there slumbered an inner tyrannosaur." In his note at the back Cyrus mentions that when a reptile goes from tadpole to frog "The plant-eating tadpole becomes a meat-eating frog. When Rex emerges from his puddle in this story, he is hungry from live prey - just like a tyrannosaur." The conceit works, and the rhymes support that same central conceit, so Cyrus's choice to put the two together gives us a stronger picture book at the end of the day.
Kurt Cyrus is no newbie to the world of children's book publishing. In his time he's given us pictures to go with Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly by Anne Bustard and high bovine adventure in the form of Lisa Wheeler's Sixteen Cows. But Cyrus has seemingly always had a soft spot for the creepies and the crawlies. How else do you explain his work on Pest Fest or Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water or Oddhopper Opera: A Bug's Garden of Verses? Certainly one of the reasons the book works is that the frogs and dinos are completely realistic. This isn't a frog that stares at you and says, "Gosh! I feel like a big brave dinosaur today!" Using a surprisingly smooth and rounded scratchboard technique alongside digital colorization, the plants and reptiles featured here are beautiful and real. Clearly I don't know enough about dinosaurs to know if the frog featured is to scale against the alamosauruses, duckbills, and triceratops that he encounters. I am willing to take Cyrus' word on the matter, though.
As I mentioned before, Cyrus is comfortable starting his art with scratchboard images and then filling in the gaps later digitally. To my mind, this is maybe the best way to use computers in children's books. I love the art of Bob Staake and J. Otto Seibold, don't get me wrong, but computer art needs a tactile hook in addition to its digital twigs and bits. For example, there is an image at the beginning of this book of a foot of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The foot is massive, taking up the upper 3/4ths of the two-page spread (Cyrus is very good at mixing images and text in creative ways, but that's neither here nor there). The foot itself is drawn with bold, thick, black lines that clearly highlight and exaggerate subliminally the massiveness of the creature. Between its toes, though, are small plants called horsetails. They are delicately rendered with undulating, highly detailed branches that sway and topple in the dinosaur's wake. All this was done in scratchboard. The nails of the Rex's feet are the real focus here, and in this, as in everything, Cyrus has chosen to become meticulous. You can actually see, thanks to his digital rendering, reflections in the curved brown/silver metal of these claws. They look burnished and strong, and in their depths are the reflections of the mud that's being churned in the dino's wake. All this for a single picture meant to merely show a T-Rex walking through a swamp. How very cool.
Mr. Cyrus reminds me in many ways of artist Chris Gall due to his realistic animals and scratchboard/printmaking choice of illustration. His rhymes, however, remind me of no one but himself. Taking a noteworthy subject and rendering it magnificent, Tadpole Rex is one of those books that honestly teaches and entertains simultaneously. For kids that can't get enough of dinos, I think many parents will be relieved to perhaps turn their interests towards other animals. Animals like frogs, for example. A visual stunner and a delight to the ear, Kurt Cyrus is definitely an artist to keep a close eye on from here on in.
Ages 4-8.
When a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex stomps his way through a muddy swamp and leaves its footprints behind, the huge puddle is just the place for a little polliwog to begin to mature. Of course, as safe as a puddle sounds there are always threats to a polliwog's life, but by camouflaging itself in the mud it manages to survive long enough to grow to maturity. When legs and arms pop out, the inner dinosaur in Tadpole Rex comes out with an almighty, "Ribbet!". He hops past the mighty dinos, at last resting in a puddle where he can watch them unobserved. But today, "Gone are the dinosaurs, swept away / But hoppers and croakers are here to stay." The big guys have disappeared one way or another but frogs are omnipresent. "And somewhere inside / deep in their core / they all have an inner / tyrannosaur." A Note from the Author at the back of the book explains that frogs predate the dinosaurs by at least 100 million years and will hopefully, with care, continue to be around in the future.
As I've mentioned before, if you're going to rhyme then you better do it right. And Cyrus, for all that his pictures could be enough if he wanted them to be, does it right. "Stomp! went the dinosaur. Squish! went the goop. / Up came the bubbles - / Bloop. / Bloop. / Bloop." They scan, they work within the context of the story, and they sound lovely when tripped off one's tongue. The rule of thumb regarding rhyming picture books is whether or not the book would be better off if the story was NOT in rhyme. For example, if we could hear the story of Tadpole Rex told in a straightforward matter-of-fact manner, would it make for a better book? Survey says no. I'm sure you could do it if you wanted to, but the lure of this story is that this frog, from a tadpole onward, acts as if he has a dinosaur inside of him. "For somewhere inside him, deep in his core, / there slumbered an inner tyrannosaur." In his note at the back Cyrus mentions that when a reptile goes from tadpole to frog "The plant-eating tadpole becomes a meat-eating frog. When Rex emerges from his puddle in this story, he is hungry from live prey - just like a tyrannosaur." The conceit works, and the rhymes support that same central conceit, so Cyrus's choice to put the two together gives us a stronger picture book at the end of the day.
Kurt Cyrus is no newbie to the world of children's book publishing. In his time he's given us pictures to go with Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly by Anne Bustard and high bovine adventure in the form of Lisa Wheeler's Sixteen Cows. But Cyrus has seemingly always had a soft spot for the creepies and the crawlies. How else do you explain his work on Pest Fest or Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water or Oddhopper Opera: A Bug's Garden of Verses? Certainly one of the reasons the book works is that the frogs and dinos are completely realistic. This isn't a frog that stares at you and says, "Gosh! I feel like a big brave dinosaur today!" Using a surprisingly smooth and rounded scratchboard technique alongside digital colorization, the plants and reptiles featured here are beautiful and real. Clearly I don't know enough about dinosaurs to know if the frog featured is to scale against the alamosauruses, duckbills, and triceratops that he encounters. I am willing to take Cyrus' word on the matter, though.
As I mentioned before, Cyrus is comfortable starting his art with scratchboard images and then filling in the gaps later digitally. To my mind, this is maybe the best way to use computers in children's books. I love the art of Bob Staake and J. Otto Seibold, don't get me wrong, but computer art needs a tactile hook in addition to its digital twigs and bits. For example, there is an image at the beginning of this book of a foot of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The foot is massive, taking up the upper 3/4ths of the two-page spread (Cyrus is very good at mixing images and text in creative ways, but that's neither here nor there). The foot itself is drawn with bold, thick, black lines that clearly highlight and exaggerate subliminally the massiveness of the creature. Between its toes, though, are small plants called horsetails. They are delicately rendered with undulating, highly detailed branches that sway and topple in the dinosaur's wake. All this was done in scratchboard. The nails of the Rex's feet are the real focus here, and in this, as in everything, Cyrus has chosen to become meticulous. You can actually see, thanks to his digital rendering, reflections in the curved brown/silver metal of these claws. They look burnished and strong, and in their depths are the reflections of the mud that's being churned in the dino's wake. All this for a single picture meant to merely show a T-Rex walking through a swamp. How very cool.
Mr. Cyrus reminds me in many ways of artist Chris Gall due to his realistic animals and scratchboard/printmaking choice of illustration. His rhymes, however, remind me of no one but himself. Taking a noteworthy subject and rendering it magnificent, Tadpole Rex is one of those books that honestly teaches and entertains simultaneously. For kids that can't get enough of dinos, I think many parents will be relieved to perhaps turn their interests towards other animals. Animals like frogs, for example. A visual stunner and a delight to the ear, Kurt Cyrus is definitely an artist to keep a close eye on from here on in.
Ages 4-8.
June 2, 2012
I really liked this book--I enjoyed the story, I loved the way the pictures captured this prehistoric world. The rhyming text was smooth, fluid, creative, and fun to read aloud, and in a way, it sort of reminded me of the rhythm of A Frog in the Bog.
My nephew enjoyed the dinosaurs in this book, and he enjoyed watching Tadpole Rex develop, but there were some things that he couldn't quite wrap his head around. E.g., "For somewhere inside him, deep in his core, there slumbered an inner tyrannosaur. A Rex who was fearless, with fire in his blood--" At this my nephew said, "Amy, I didn't know that tadpoles had fire inside their blood!" That was a somewhat challenging phrase to explain to a four year old. :-)
My nephew enjoyed the dinosaurs in this book, and he enjoyed watching Tadpole Rex develop, but there were some things that he couldn't quite wrap his head around. E.g., "For somewhere inside him, deep in his core, there slumbered an inner tyrannosaur. A Rex who was fearless, with fire in his blood--" At this my nephew said, "Amy, I didn't know that tadpoles had fire inside their blood!" That was a somewhat challenging phrase to explain to a four year old. :-)
June 15, 2008
My 4 1/2 year old grandsons give 5 stars and I do too. Since I brought it home, this has been their favorite book and I don't mind reading it over and over and over and over. I love the scale of the illustrations and the palette with its swampy greens and browns. There is always something new to find on the pages. The text fits wonderfully and the rythm of the words makes it fun to read together. Imaginative, original and finely crafted.
April 11, 2012
A new addition to my list of frog read alouds. The kids in my preschool storytime grew silent, in a good way, when I started reading this. You have to see it - the pictures are large, taking up both pages with bold color. Did you know tadpoles/frogs existed alongside dinosaurs? They may have been much smaller but, who lasted longer? A great story about the tyrannosaur in all of us!
May 5, 2025
A 'frogs-eye' view of dinosaurs...great book for children just learning about animals. There are certain books that I think help a small child to 'see' that there are lots of connections between all creatures on our planet; this is a lesson I think it is never too early to teach them. This book does a fine job of looking at the way we are all connected.
December 30, 2008
Great read aloud, with rhymes that scan perfectly. The pictures are gorgeous, and give a real sense of size and perspective between the size differences between T-Rex and the pre-historic frog.
April 19, 2013
This picture book has different colors and illustrations on every page. It is an excellent book that shares the story of how a frog evolves from a tadpole in the dinosaur times. It brings fun rhymes and facts about frogs together. Rhyming is hard for a child to learn and the text makes it fun and easy to learn. In the back of the book the author even connected his story to real life facts about how fossils of frogs were really found around the dinosaur era. Children will love the illustrations, rhymes, and history of the frog with an inner tyrannosaur!
October 14, 2015
This is a book that young boys will really enjoy. Have them do their best T-rex roar, have them stomp around like a dinosaur, and then introduce them to Tadpole Rex. Allow them a chance to find the tiny tadpole on each page until he gets bigger. Then let them imitate a frog with a T-rex attitude. Have them show their best frog jump. This one makes for a very energetic story time. I would have gotten a tadpole specifically for this but I can't stand the thought of any of my money going to tadpole mills who may or may not support underground frog fighting. I'm just saying.
June 22, 2012
A beautifully rhyming book for kids, good illustrations and did I mention great rhyming? Not exhaustingly rhyming in the Dr Seuss's sense. In the poetically rhyming sense.
If you're looking for an off-the-beaten track book about dinosaurs, try this one. You will have great pleasure reading it out loud and it takes a bit of time for kids to match illustrations and picture so it's great in that sense too.
If you're looking for an off-the-beaten track book about dinosaurs, try this one. You will have great pleasure reading it out loud and it takes a bit of time for kids to match illustrations and picture so it's great in that sense too.
February 9, 2013
I thought this book was very amusing. This book would be good for small children. This book will make the smallest person feel like a hero. This book could be used for so many different learning opportunities in a classroom. It could be used for children who are feeling depressed, or it could be used in bullying circumstances.
The illustrations are magnificent; they are crystal clear with really clear and difinitive lines with very bright colors.
The illustrations are magnificent; they are crystal clear with really clear and difinitive lines with very bright colors.
June 12, 2009
This is a wonderful, humorous, rhyming book with bold playful illustrations. We observe a tadpole finding his voice amongst the dinosaurs. My nine year old son commented that every age would like it because it is "like a poem." It creatively combines fiction, science and rhythm, making a great read aloud. I loved it!
April 19, 2012
This book was such a fun read and was full of wonderful illustrations and poetry. Young children are very curious about dinosaurs and this book shows how frogs are related to them. This would be a good independent read for students in third to fifth grade. I could use this book to do a lesson on the life cycle of a frog as it shows the frog growing from a tadpole.
August 23, 2013
Did you know that frogs existed when dinosaurs did? Well, they did. And this wonderfully rhyming books tells the story of a little tadpole as he survives almost being stomped on and eaten by the extinct giants.
A fantastic read-aloud for storytime, this will have the kids roaring... Or maybe ribbiting?
A fantastic read-aloud for storytime, this will have the kids roaring... Or maybe ribbiting?
August 27, 2013
My boys LOVE dinosaurs right now so if I can find a way to discuss with them the topic I'm excited about it. In this book I learned that frogs were alive even back when dinosaurs were. Pretty cool! Never knew that and it was great to be able to explain to my four year old what happened to the dinosaurs when he asked.
August 21, 2008
I LOVE the illustrations in this book! Great way to branch off interest in dinosaurs to other animals. The fact that frogs have been around since before the dinosaurs and are now endangered--info in the back of the book--may really get kids thinking.
December 16, 2008
Storytime ready with large illustrations of fantastic dinosaur action. Kids will respond to the idea of frogs having an inner T Rex. The rhythm and rhyme of the text is accented with enough sqishes, bloops and floops to delight young listeners.
January 11, 2009
Cool new variation on dinosaur books! Love the artwork, rhymes, radical changes in perspective, and the storyline of a frog finding its 'inner tyrannosaur'. A plus is the informational side showing how frogs were around before and after dinosaurs. Good read aloud.
January 11, 2009
Even though this is a fictional story a non-fiction dinosaur fan will love it. It makes me appreciate tadpoles and their survival quite a bit more. I enjoyed the story and think the cover will sell itself. Ages 5+
March 3, 2011
Literacy skills:
Narrative skills-There is a lot of information to absorb in this book. There is also a lot of opportunity to ask questions while reading the book, this interaction builds narrative skills.
Narrative skills-There is a lot of information to absorb in this book. There is also a lot of opportunity to ask questions while reading the book, this interaction builds narrative skills.
April 14, 2011
This book is great to introduce dinosaurs or even the life cycle of a frog. The pictures are wonderful and the rhyming words just add to the story. I really liked this book and will definitely be using it again.
March 18, 2012
A fiercely entertaining read, this book would be a great addition to a classroom library. Whether you are studying dinosaurs, life cycles of frogs, or having the courage to be yourself, Tadpole Rex will delight at any age.
April 19, 2012
Have you ever thought of a frog as having an inner T-Rex? Well it's tough to survive and grow up to be a frog when your whole childhood life cycle takes place in a puddle formed by the foot print of ... can you guess?
April 16, 2013
Awesome book! I'd use it for a science lesson on how animals develop. Also the book is filled with great vocabulary that could be taught. I would use voices to make this book exciting for my students.
January 21, 2015
My son liked this story, of a prehistoric frog who has an inner dinosaur and what happens when it lets loose in front of the big dinosaurs, better than Turtle Rex; I preferred Turtle Rex. Nice touches about metamorphosis and the long history of the frog and other amphibians.
February 13, 2009
Missour has an award that is voted on by kids for the best read aloud book call the Buildling Block Award. This is one of my favorites from the list of possible books.
January 16, 2016
Great for read-alouds with big, bold illustrations and rhyming, bouncing text. Ilustrations were done on scratchboard and then colored digitally. Black-Eyed Susan picture book nominee.
December 2, 2020
This book is interesting. I’m not quite sure if it is supposed to be showing off evolution or just the life cycle of a tadpole. It could work for either. I really love the rhyming pattern and sound words like Bloop. They would be great fun at story time. However, the cadence is all over the place and causes the story to act as a tongue twister.
September 15, 2019
This book wasn't anything too flashy. It had a message that you are as big as you feel and not to let other push you around, but it went about it in an odd way, in my opinion. I don't see many kids identifying with a frog living around dinosaurs.
November 10, 2023
This is a delightful rhyming story of a tiny tadpole living at the time of the dinosaurs. A small as he was, Tadpole Rex felt big and ferocious but still knew to stay safe from huge dinosaurs. Lovely illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews