April 2019 Book of the Month | Interest Age 8+ Reading Age 8
It’s hard to resist any book that starts with toads dropping from the sky and that’s just one of the delights of this story. The toads provide the backdrop to a thoroughly enjoyable tale of friendship, inter-school horticultural rivalry and the fall and rise of an umbrella emporium. Patrice Lawrence makes sure the storylines leap along nicely and her central characters Leo and Rosa feel like old friends even by chapter two. Becka Moor’s illustrations – of toads and human characters alike – are more than lively enough to match the narrative. A fun, original adventure that will keep everyone hoppy.
After a toad lands on his head as he leaves his house one morning, Leo is determined to find out where it has come from and why. Together with his friend Rosa, he needs to come up with some answers before the angry residents of Upper Dab take matters into their own hands and the toads become toast! A brilliantly quirky comedy caper with a diverse and inclusive cast of characters.
Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+
Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and brought up in an Italian-Trinidadian household in Mid Sussex. Patrice lives in east London and shares a cat called Stormageddon. She has been writing for as long as she has been reading. She loves crime fiction, sci-fi and trying to grow things. Her ideal mixtape includes drum 'n' bass, Bruce Springsteen and Studio Ghibli soundtracks. Music can't help creeping into her books. Her debut novel, Orangeboy, won the Waterstone's Book Prize for Older Readers and the YA Book Prize, and her second novel, Indigo Donut, won the Crime Fest Best Crime Fiction for Young Adults and was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize.
