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Toad #4
Toad Surprise
This is a cane toad's hilarious quest to discover the true meaning of Christmas! Limpy has a dream. A dream in which cane toads and humans live happily together. Surely this time Limpy will be able to show humans how nice cane toads can be? After all, it is Christmas. And isn't Christmas a time of peace and goodwill to all men? And cane toads?
- GenresChildrens
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 27, 2008
About the author
Morris Gleitzman
122 books986 followersMorris 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 31, 2012
cute. Probably reading one toad story is enough… but still funny and clever.
June 20, 2016
'Toad Surprise' is a non-fiction novel written by Australian author Morris Gleitzman. This edition of the book was first published in 2008, and became more well-known during 2009.
Same as any other books in Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Toad Series’, the novel starts with the slightly squashed toad Limpy. Limpy has a dream, a dream of living in a place where toads play mud slides with human, share termites and mosquito wings. Where the place is filled with laughter and the two races will respect each other. Most importantly, it would be a place where human beings will not try to squash cane toads to death with this kind of vehicles called ‘trucks’.
Story starts during Christmas, where peace and goodwill is spread by a person called Santa. Limpy was sure how Santa looks like. Red coat, red pants, big black boots, and a pointy little red hat. All of which decorated with white fluff. This could help the cane toads to ‘rebuild’ peace and goodwill and friendship between human and themselves. Partly to prevent any extra ‘accidental deaths’ caused by squashing. Limpy decided to go on another journey. To the place where Santa lives. And to become one of his helpers, and to meet more helpers like that called Reindeer. Chances are Limpy will never meet Santa in his life. But you know what? More chances are that Limpy actually met the real Santa in ------ The damp where he lives.
Santa came out of the truck, yes, that has to be right! Big black boots, red pants, red coat with white fluffy decorations, and a hat that does not look too much like Santa’s in the magazine, it’s indeed red though.
Who is this ‘Santa’? And what will it lead Limpy and his cousin into? Carparks with trolleys and people and babies? Or instead a supermarket full of people stomping and running and pushing? Maybe even both. This story is recommended for teenagers and children because it teaches us the point of keep on going no matter what, although the goal seems impossible, but this story really tells the readers the importance of ‘giving it a try’.
Same as any other books in Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Toad Series’, the novel starts with the slightly squashed toad Limpy. Limpy has a dream, a dream of living in a place where toads play mud slides with human, share termites and mosquito wings. Where the place is filled with laughter and the two races will respect each other. Most importantly, it would be a place where human beings will not try to squash cane toads to death with this kind of vehicles called ‘trucks’.
Story starts during Christmas, where peace and goodwill is spread by a person called Santa. Limpy was sure how Santa looks like. Red coat, red pants, big black boots, and a pointy little red hat. All of which decorated with white fluff. This could help the cane toads to ‘rebuild’ peace and goodwill and friendship between human and themselves. Partly to prevent any extra ‘accidental deaths’ caused by squashing. Limpy decided to go on another journey. To the place where Santa lives. And to become one of his helpers, and to meet more helpers like that called Reindeer. Chances are Limpy will never meet Santa in his life. But you know what? More chances are that Limpy actually met the real Santa in ------ The damp where he lives.
Santa came out of the truck, yes, that has to be right! Big black boots, red pants, red coat with white fluffy decorations, and a hat that does not look too much like Santa’s in the magazine, it’s indeed red though.
Who is this ‘Santa’? And what will it lead Limpy and his cousin into? Carparks with trolleys and people and babies? Or instead a supermarket full of people stomping and running and pushing? Maybe even both. This story is recommended for teenagers and children because it teaches us the point of keep on going no matter what, although the goal seems impossible, but this story really tells the readers the importance of ‘giving it a try’.
September 20, 2015
The last book of John Gleitzman's Australian cane toad series and without a doubt, the most hilarious and heart-warming of them all. That's because in this book, we find that although many people do not like cane toads, in the wideness of that big scary world, there is at least one who cares. One without warts.
March 11, 2012
I laughed so much. =o)
August 19, 2016
What a hoot! Laughed out loud!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews