Limpy is on a quest to find toad heaven. A place where cane toads won't be blown up with bike pumps or bashed over the head with folding chairs. Limpy's determined to find this place if it takes him the rest of his life, but his plans are waylaid when he's kidnapped by some sinister-looking humans and tossed into a bucket. Will Limpy be able to save cane toads? Will he be able to find toad heaven? First he has to get out of the bucket . . . in this hysterically funny sequel to Toad Rage.

Reviews

Limpy, from Toad Rage, which PW called "a hilarious dark comedy," takes another star turn in Toad Heaven by Morris Gleitzman. Here the fellow seeks a paradise for cane toads, where they can be free from human threats such as bike pumps and folding chairs. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Gr 3-6-In this sequel to Toad Rage (Random, 2004), a young Australian cane toad longs to find a place where his family can live safely from the humans who seem to delight in squashing them. After an encounter with a conservationist, Limpy mistakenly believes that he has been injected with a virus that will wipe out his species. Hearing stories of a fabled "national park" where living things are protected, he sets out, hoping to find this refuge for his family before he dies. This is not a philosophical animal quest in the mold of Richard Adams's Watership Down (Scribner, 1974), but a rather darkly comic fantasy. Limpy and his two traveling companions-his slow, pugnacious cousin and his timid little sister-are a scruffy but oddly endearing crew. He is the brains of the outfit-a somewhat reluctant leader who manages to guide the others through encounters with militant fire ants, crocodiles, and a boatload of tourists. The often-raucous dialogue includes lots of body humor and gross-out descriptions of toad diet and personal habits. Even death is a frequent source of amusement, from the toads' eerie use of a flattened relative as an insect trap to the companions' unsettling experiences among stuffed souvenir cane toads in a gift shop. Readers will appreciate the combination of rowdy humor and adventure as well as the emphasis on individual courage and achievement.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.