The Hidden Life of a Toad

"What is this tangle of stuff? It looks like a pile of spaghetti," says the text about the photograph of black-spotted, jelly-like squiggles creeping over the gutter from the recto spread that is surely enigmatic and even a bit creepy. A page turn reveals that the spots are embryos, thousands of them encased in each jelly strong, and a single little egg "would just fit inside this o." The book updates every few days the progress of the eggs as they hatch into tadpoles, bringing readers along with large close-up photos, enhanced by insects and labels, that make it easy to view each new…

Biologist and photographer Wechsler’s chronicle of a toad’s journey from embryo all the way to adulthood is insightful. The images—detailed full-color photographs—are everything a budding naturalist could wish for, right down to the warty close-ups. The text, while clearly written and full of intriguing tidbits (for instance, a tadpole hangs out in water too shallow for hungry fish, and the tadpole’s tail is recycled within its body) does lack a certain grace. Still, the content presented is pertinent to the life cycle of amphibians. The book includes a primer on the differences between a…

How do toads develop from fertilized eggs? Do toads need saving? These questions and more are answered in this excellent photo essay that records three years in the life of a female toad. The story is told in easy language accompanied by detailed, intriguing photos that will keep any animal lover engaged. This book will also draw in children (or adults) who may be less immediately interested in the subject, due to its clarity and effective design. Each full-bleed two-page spread includes a large photo taking up three-quarters of the spread and a blue rectangle (placed on the left or the right…

Kids may know the life stages of a toad, but how do those radical changes take place? And what does the animal look like during its transformation from one stage to the next? This clearly illustrated volume offer close-up, color photos of toads as they grow and change, beginning with embryos developing on jelly strands and concluding 1,098 days later with a female toad expelling two long jelly strings laden with eggs soon fertilized by a male. It’s one thing to know that a toadlet has arms, whereas a tadpole does not. It’s quite another to see the arm formed beneath the tadpole’s translucent…

Biologist and photographer Wechsler (Marvels in the Muck) documents the life cycle of a toad, providing crisp images, accompanied by poetic descriptions: "Tiny tadpoles school at the edge of the pond. The water is warm here, and too shallow for big, hungry fish. Tadpoles grow fast in warm water." Wechsler numbers each day of the toads' development, helping readers stay connected to the changes taking place as tails and gills take shape ( in one especially striking moment on Day 41, readers see a toad's arm pushing against its translucent skin, ready to burst through). Jumping—toadlike…

A fascinating up-close account of these bumpy-skinned toads and their ritual can be seen in The Hidden Life of a Toad by Doug Wechsler. Author-photographer Wechsler went out night after night to find and photograph toads for this unusual insight into this amphibia. He even built his own aquarium and used special close-up lenses to pho0tograph developing embryos and tadpoles. His picture gallery covers the early days when embryos (tiny black balls) take shape. By day five the embryos turn into tadpoles. Pictures show them growing long skinny tails and later legs and toes and finally four arms.…