Toad Heaven is an adolescent
novel written by legendary Australian author Morris Gleitzman. It is the second
part of the self-contained Toad
series which follows Limpy (a young, imaginative cane toad with a gimpy leg) in
his journey to find the perfect home for his family, free from four-wheel
drives and humans. Limpy is joined by his cousin Goliath and sister Charm in
finding a national park where animals can’t be harmed, but they encounter many
hurdles along the way.
The story is told in third person and uses a staple theme of
Gleitzman’s writing in that the main character is a child (or is merely younger
than most characters), is an underdog of some sort and is very naive. This is
certainly the case for Limpy who takes a long time to realise that cane toads
are a hated species. This alone could be a useful teaching tool as the message
is that we should try and walk in another person’s shoes before judging them.
Cane toads are widely hated, but Limpy has more than a few redeeming qualities
and the message to students should be that this can occur in the real world.
This book is a useful teaching tool as it uses humour (Limpy’s
cousin Goliath can’t help but eat everything in sight) to engage the reader and
together with the several moral messages gleaned from the story teachers could
use many comprehension exercises with good results. The fact the story is told
about can toads also opens up a whole new world and perspective for children,
which should be used in a teaching scenario at every opportunity.
This book is best suited for students from Years 4-7.
Josh Rouse
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