Toad Heaven

Toad #2

by Morris Gleitzman

For use in schools and libraries only. Despite the opposition of Ancient Eric and Malcolm, Limpy goes on a quest to find a place where cane toads can be safe from humans and live in harmony, in the sequel to Toad Rage.

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Australia, Animal Fiction

181 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Morris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.

Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.

Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.

He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.

But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.

All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as my practicum students are currently reading it in class and I wanted to be able to discuss it with them when I'm in class next. Toad Heaven has marvelous characters and descriptions of locations as well as being thought-provoking in a way that children's books usually aren't. This one has a soft focus on the damage and wanton destruction that humans wreak upon the landscape and wildlife that live on it as well as being a journey of self-discovery for the three main toad characters.

[The Thursday Skunk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the hilarity and informative aspects of the book about cane toads. Thank you Limpy! The ease of reading and the epic toad journey kept me engaged throughout. However, I deducted one star as some parts felt a bit rushed; I wished for more elaboration on specific aspects of Limpy's journey. Overall, a delightful read with room for a bit more detail in certain areas.

(I do hold this book dear to my heart. Haven’t we all pined for something, only to realize that it’s going to bite us in the butt? I’ll never look at national parks the same!)

[Jim D'Ambrosia · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This conservation project," said Limpy. "Does it involve transporting cane toads to national parks where we can live safely and happily for ever and ever?"

The dog thought for another moment.
"No," said the dog flatly. "It involves infecting cane toads with a virus that'll kill you all."

Not quite as good as the first in the series. Still, there is something fetching about a pack of ants telling toads to rack off.

[Katie Flegal Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud with James. I was laughing out loud at parts.

[Brooke Stubbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not to bad

[Ian S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute enough story of a family of Cane Toads in search of a better home. Very rushed feeling to the whole story.

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Limpy is the best! What a fun story and a great sequel! It had a lot of funny moments, too.

[Myah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toad Heaven is about a toad named Limpy. Limpy and his friends are trying to find a national park when Limpy gets injected by something. A dog told him it was virus germs, and if he got close to any other toad he would give them the germs ! But there is still a chance he can. He hopped on a train with sheep. He started to talk to the sheep, The sheep said they were going to be slaughtered. Limpy felt so sad an tried to convince them to come with him but they didn’t. Once he arrived he found his self in a tunnel where the sheep would go in. Limpy herd the sheep coming and got scared then he herd a voice! It was Golith his cousin! Golith tried to help him. Limpy said no but Golith grabbed him and brought him to the top. The sheep ran in the tunnel right when he got out. Then he remembered the germs. Golith and Limpy saw a pink back pack and it was Charm. She tried to hug her brother, but Limpy refused. Limpy explained to them about the germs. They said they would die with him then they ran into a cats. The cats said the national park was out the end entrance. They found it was flooded. (It was actually an under water National park.) Then they found a national park not flooded, but they left and went home because the animals there were mean and they couldn’t eat bugs. They found a gator. The gator popped the lump on limpy’s back. There was a tracking device! They found no one at home! Then they headed west and found them with a lot of others. Limpy, Charm, and Golith went home with the others the end.

[Torina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"i rated this book 3 stars because the plot kinda didn't make much sense and because i relly dont like talking animals unless its actiony. some parts that i did like i rated pretty high thats why it wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best. it was very ...more i rated this book 3 stars because the plot kinda didn't make much sense and because i relly dont like talking animals unless its actiony. some parts that i did like i rated pretty high thats why it wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best. it was very interesting and i learned a few thing about it. i think that it would be a decent experience to reaed this book it was fun and i think the journey that made the story good was a good action packed journey so thats another reason i gave it 3 stars. it was also a relly nice book with a happy/sad ending but over all a pretty good book. i reccomend it to viewers who like comedy,and fantasy packed together and wrapped in a thin lair of action, and peril.i also thought it was sad because the 3 main toads die and whoever gets touched by them because limpy gets injected with some sort of poison. and its also sad because the big mean toad goes and leads the big 4 wheal drive truck out into the deep part of the swamp and kills ancient eric the leader who everyone liked and then he tricked them all and let them the wrong way.

[Torin A · Rating 3 out of 5]

i rated this book 3 stars because the plot kinda didn't make much sense and because i relly dont like talking animals unless its actiony. some parts that i did like i rated pretty high thats why it wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best. it was very interesting and i learned a few thing about it. i think that it would be a decent experience to reaed this book it was fun and i think the journey that made the story good was a good action packed journey so thats another reason i gave it 3 stars. it was also a relly nice book with a happy/sad ending but over all a pretty good book. i reccomend it to viewers who like comedy,and fantasy packed together and wrapped in a thin lair of action, and peril.i also thought it was sad because the 3 main toads die and whoever gets touched by them because limpy gets injected with some sort of poison. and its also sad because the big mean toad goes and leads the big 4 wheal drive truck out into the deep part of the swamp and kills ancient eric the leader who everyone liked and then he tricked them all and let them the wrong way.

[Mrrik Noubarentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book because it seemed intrseting from its name and i thought it would be a fun book to read. Toad Heaven is about a frog named Limpy who wants to live in a frog paradise. Where he currently lives, it is a danger hazard, because of flooding, cars, and people. Limpy's leg got run over by a car(hence the name). One day, Limpy is taken by someone and nursed to health. He returns to find everyone at his own funeral. Now, Limpy's family is in danger of getting killed, so now Limpy must guide them all to a safer place. My favorite quote in the whole book is "If a crow suddenly appeared and ate the soft juicy bits on the inside of my legs, I wouldn't want it to be anywhere but here." This quote shows that Limpy was able to make everyone happy through all of his hard work. This book is written in third- point of view. It is written somewhat in a modern perspective from the use of vocabulary. I would recommend this book because it is an adventurious tale about a young frog who wants to guide everyone to their saftey, and it is quite humerous.

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only was this book so entertaing but it really was the kind that you grab even if you know you dont have the time. It's the kind that you wanna read so bad and that if you dont get to read if you get all grumpy but its not the kind that you read till 5 in the mornin when you started at 9 and its not a direct kind of book its not just one subject absolute, its a little wobbly. But its not the kind that when you flip the page its talkin bout Whole different place, person, topic... This book is mixed up, but its easy enough to keep track to. I defently think you should read this book, if you just wanna take a break from a series, if you have nothing to read, if you wanna take a break from all scary book that you've been reading, this is perfect. But still if your not doing any of those book searching things, this book is still good so you should REALLY put this on your list!

[Gypsy Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful Young Adults book.

Morris Gleitzman’s books are aimed primarily at readers in the 8 - 12 year age range and the majority of his protagonists are similarly pre-adolescent.


His books, most of which are set in Australia, address the very real concerns of children’s lives, yet always with immense humour and a succinct and ‘punchy’ narrative style, which reflects his experience in writing comedy scripts for television. Gleitzman’s child characters are usually loveable and well-intentioned, but get into all sorts of scrapes and mishaps - in this, the influence of Gleitzman’s own childhood favourite, Richmal Crompton’s Just William series, is clear.

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toad Heaven was a really funny book. I loved Toad Rage too and it was a funny sequal. Limpy, Charm, and Goliath are trying to find a toad heaven. At the beginning of the book, Limpy things of the idea to put sticky sap on dead toads and to throw them over the highway to collect bugs to eat. Then, he goes to try to find a nathingal park. Goliath and his stomach come in handy in the story. It is truly a funny story. It is a good story for all ages. I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Toad Rage and likes comedy.

[Will Demas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a pretty lame book. I was terribly annoyed with the stupid plot of dumb toads trying to cross a road. Every toad who tries to cross it gets squished. In my opinion, that could be kind of funny, but the way the author wrote and described it just made it boring. The toads in the book live in Australia but do not have Australian accents which I find kind of dumb. I would not recommend this book to anyone over nine years of age because it will not thrill you, plus, it is definitely not hard to put down.

[Kristy Tallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not only a great book for kids but its a fun read for parents as well - It takes a bit of an odd sense of humor to fall prey to the world of the toads down under but I promise you - your kids will love it. I read this to my daughter and my soon to be step daughter (they are both 9) and they giggled well into the night...even my fifteen year old son listened in here and there. You can't help yourself!

[Tempest · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say that this book was particularly hard to put down, and I can't say that it held me captive until I had finished.
The story itself was a little kooky; Australian Cane Toads searching for safety and throwing their family's corpses into the air to catch bugs? It really had no point. The attempts at humor strung up in the childish, innocent writing had no affect on saving the book. I can honestly say it wasn't all that enjoyable.

[Ben Brewer]

The story is about a toad that tries to find a place ware people dont kill othe toads. The reason for this is that hes a sertin toad that gives out a desise so people trie to kill him. On the journey he almost drounds. He makes it to a Natinal park and brings his family and they stay there. I would recommend this book to any teacher that likes frogs or toads.

[Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francesca:
I loved this book sooo much!!! I read it during camp and it helped me with not getting home sick!!! Mabey the title does sound kind of gross but it actualy is a good book. I bought it in my school book fair when I was in 4th grade. I could write a 10 page review but I am not in the mood for it!!!
P.S- read the book :)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am so enjoying this series about a cane toad with a limp and his love for his family. Adventure, humor, and just plain good relaxing reading with occasional need to read aloud.

Very sensitive animal lovers will find some of it a bit upsetting, although everything does come out fine in the end.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious series from Australia told by cane toads. The main character wants humans to stop flattening his "rellies" (relatives) with their cars and goes on a quest to try to make peace with them. Some gross humor but so funny.

[Uflchildrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny series from Australia about a cane toad who wants to forge a friendship between humans and cane toads. Some gross humor that may especially appeal to boys but great characters and funny adventures that will appeal to all readers. --Rachel
J/Gleitzman

[Letaya Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how these toads want to find a better way to live. So limpy one of the toads try to find a better pond or swamp till he hears a bout a nice place where he wants to take his family. I commend this book to all ages!

[Mikhail J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book a very good book, the story hooks you in which makes you wants to read more. There are some elements of this story which can be a bit sad but overall it is a adventures book. Morris Gleitzman publishes very interesting books.

[Nick S · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is about a toad (limpy) who wants to find toad heaven. it is a place where toads can't be run over by cars or trucks. he is determined to find this place even if it takes forever. first he has to get out of the bucket.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

so wierd

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Silly but Awesome. Dry Humor.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of suckish...

[Lulus · Rating 5 out of 5]

its funny

[Kensie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so Funny! In the search to find toad Heaven! I cant wait to read the next book to the series!