TOAD ON THE GO

Being on the go, go, go leads to a big no, no, no for an overenthusiastic amphibian.

The protagonist of Awan’s Geisel Honor–winning Towed by Toad (2024) is back for more adventures. Toad proudly stops to help stranded drivers, towing them back to Pop’s Tire & Car Repair. Heeding the latest call (“Sharp Pat has a flat!”), Toad races to the rescue. Unfortunately, Toad’s high speed results in a crash. Toad is unharmed, and so is Winnie Neigh-Nay, the driver of the other car, but Winnie’s clearly peeved. Poor Toad! Our hero is understandably frustrated, but eventually, Pop reassures Toad that “we can fix it!” Young readers will relate to Toad’s eagerness to help and the emotions that follow as our protagonist fails; Awan emphasizes that everyone makes mistakes, but everything can be made right with a positive attitude. Featuring differently sized fonts and onomatopoeia, his spare, smartly paced rhyming text flows beautifully and is a natural choice for a raucous read-aloud. His trademark expressive digital art complements the writing and makes effective use of page turns, providing opportunities for further exploration with young readers; a series of spreads featuring Toad’s impatience at a stoplight builds epic layers of narrative tension while also offering a lesson on the meanings of the stoplight’s colors.

A hilarious yet sensitive look at a universal experience.