Tadpole’s Promise | Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

It has been a long time since I had a full-bellied laugh out loud moment whilst reading a picture book.

But Tadpole’s Promise did just that.

This is a simple story about love and change.

A tadpole falls in love with a caterpillar – they meet on the edge of a pond to declare their undying love and promise to never change.

But, of course, every time they meet, the tadpole has changed – first back legs, then front legs.

The caterpillar is unhappy with the changes but eventually comes around, accepts them and continues to declare undying love….You can probably guess where this is headed…

…and yes, you’re right. The caterpillar does change too…into a beautiful butterfly….

But I will not tell you what happens when the tadpole/frog and the caterpillar/butterfly meet for the last time.

This is where the black humour (& the belly laughs) lie! If you want to know how it ends, you will have to search this book out to discover the amazing ending for yourself!

Where the willow tree meets the water, a tadpole met a caterpillar.

They gazed into each other’s tiny eyes…and fell in love.

“I love everything about you,” said the caterpillar.

“Promise you’ll never change.” And foolishly the tadpole promised…

But we all know that tadpoles don’t stay the same, and neither do caterpillars.

Will they still be able to love each other?

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