The Toad

The Toad is a children's nonfiction picture book by Canadian author and illustrator Elise Gravel, one volume in the Disgusting Critters series, published by Tundra Books in 2016. At about 32 pages, it is aimed at children aged 6–9 who are just beginning to read, and uses comic-style illustrations and handwritten-style short sentences to introduce the often-disdained toad. The book first explains the basic differences between frogs and toads, then introduces several oddly shaped toads such as the Emei mustache toad and the Venezuela pebble toad, before focusing on the common toad (Bufo bufo): what its skin bumps do, how it hunts insects and worms, what defenses it has, how it lays eggs, how it grows from tadpole to adult, and the most eye-opening scene of all—the toad sheds its skin and then eats it. The author uses repeated exaggerated words such as "TOXIN," "PREY," and "EWWW!" along with teasing speech-bubble asides to make the facts read like a comic strip. The ending discusses how global warming and habitat destruction have put some amphibians at risk of extinction, and asks young readers to keep the environment clean for the toads around them. Throughout, the book gets children grinning and crying "gross" while slipping real natural-history knowledge into their heads.