Tadpoles and Dinosaurs

This wonderful book, Tadpole Rex, by Kurt Cyrus, will charm you and your children. The first and second graders loved the illustrations and the rhyming text with lots of great sound-words. The book made a fantastic read-aloud.

Tadpole Rex lives in a prehistoric swamp and begins his life in the puddle made by a gigantic dinosaur footprint. You will learn about his growth to become a frog and the dangers he encounters. The author's note explains his metamorphosis and points out that frogs were on the earth before the dinosaurs and many different frogs still live in our world. What a fun way to learn about the life cyle of a frog.

Our local public library also has this great science kit that has actual specimens of 5 stages of the frog life cycle encased in resin blocks. The students loved examining each real example of the life cycle stages from all sides.

Look for more great books written and/or illustrated by Kurt Cyrus.