The Hidden Life of a Toad

In jaw-dropping photos, Doug Wechsler captures the life cycle of the American toad from egg to tadpole to adult. To get these images, Wechsler sat in a pond wearing waders, went out night after night in search of toads, and cut his own glass to make a home aquarium. The resulting photos reveal metamorphosis in extreme close-up as readers have never seen it before.

Budding naturalists will be transfixed by this unprecedented peek into the secrets of tadpole transformation.

A book that encourages observation and conservation and may start some young biologists off on their own lifelong quests to understand animals -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

A fascinating look at toad development -- Booklist, starred review

Suitable for libraries needing to bolster their early nonfiction collections -- School Library Journal

A remarkable visual chronicle of an easily overlooked creature -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Chicago Public Library's 2017 Best of the Best Books selection

2018 Green Earth Book Honor for Children's nonfiction

Doug Wechsler takes his inspiration from the jungles, swamps and seashores of the world as well as from his own backyard. By showing the wonders of nature and its humorous side he hopes to motivate his readers to deepen their interest in their natural surroundings. Doug is a wildlife biologist, a nature photographer, and the author of more than twenty books for children, including Marvels in the Muck: Life in the Salt Marshes and Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool (Boyds Mills).