School Spirit

‘Uncle Bart,’ said Limpy, ‘why do humans hate us?’
Uncle Bart looked down at Limpy and smiled fondly.
‘Stack me, Limpy,’ he chuckled, ‘you are an idiot.’

For Limpy the cane toad living in the swamp by a railroad crossing somewhere in the north of Queensland, life would be so much better if humans didn’t think it necessary to swerve across the road at every opportunity to kill his fellow cane toads by running over them with cars. So he asks himself this question of why humans hate cane toads, and then sets out on a journey of adventure and discovery to show humans just how loveable cane toads really are. Maybe then his family and relatives will be safe to gather flying insects for dinner at the railway crossing and not have to worry about ending up as placemats stacked neatly in Limpy’s bedroom.

Originally published in 1999, Toad Rage is the story of one ’slightly squashed cane toad’s quest for the truth’. The truth about why humans hate cane toads. Written by Australian children’s author Morris Gleitzman, Toad Rage takes the reader on a furious hop from one location to the next as Limpy travels south with his cousin Goliath to prove to the world (or at least those humans driving over his relatives) that their two species really can get on with each other. How? Well, getting a spot as an official Sydney Olympic Games Mascot might just help, eh?

Toad Rage hops along at a fast and furious pace through 30 short, compact chapters which are easy and entertaining for even younger readers to manage. Like many of Gleitzman’s stories, it rolls with humour both subtle and blatantly outrageous and at times childishly crude. At the same time, the story can move from total hilarity to a deeply moving realisation without skipping a beat, before returning again to fun and Limpy’s continuing mad cap adventure. The characters are endearing and enjoyable, and Goliath, Limpy’s big, strong yet definitely not-too-sensible cousin is often the kids’ favourite. This probably has a lot to do with his intentions to bash up humans and on coming vehicles with any stick he can find. His final intentions are usually along the line of sticking their engine up their noses and weeing in their fuel tank. You can see why kids love it, eh?

I love it too.

This is another book I almost religiously read to each new grade I teach, and with two sequels – ‘Toad Heaven‘ and ‘Toad Away‘ – featuring the further adventures of Limpy, Goliath and Limpy’s little sister Charm, there are more opportunities for the kids to enjoy a good, fun read either on their own or as an entire grade.

Apparently it was released recently (2005-06 or thereabouts) in America. It seems it is available over there, but in these cases it appears they’ve gone for a dodgy front cover design instead, but have also included a glossary at the back for all those scary Australian words we use.

If you are interested in the book, you can read the entire first chapter here at the Morris Gleitzman Collection.

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