First published 2007
A toad engages in spirited verbal sparring with a nightingale, each creature offering their own perspective through clever poems. The toad proves that earthbound creatures can match the musical prowess of their celebrated counterparts. Their exchange frames a delightful catalog of verses about the mundane and surprising world around them. The poems celebrate everything from marked-down fruit at the grocery store to battery-powered timepieces. Plants, forest dwellers, household items, and cosmic mysteries all receive poetic treatment. The verses group themselves into themed collections that explore both the humble and the unexpected. Through this literary duel, the lowly toad demonstrates that dirty, ground-dwelling creatures sometimes surpass the supposedly superior songbirds of the sky. The book combines whimsy with keen observation, finding poetry in discount produce and wonder in common objects.
Genres: animals, poetry, 21st-century
Vibes: lyrical, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers
64 pages · Hardcover · David R. Godine, Publisher