Bertrand, a little boy, questions his mother. How was I when I was a baby?
you were the portrait of your grandfather, bald and wrinkled, she replies. Deep in the jungle, a young baboon asks his mother the same question, then it’s the hippopotamus’ turn to wonder. The leopard follows as well as the ostrich, the snake, the hyena, the warthog, the chameleon.
All the little ones on the planet are asking the same question and are satisfied with the answer. They learn that they are scale models of their father or mother.
But for the frog, that’s another problem. When that mom explains to her that when she was little it was a tadpole, she doesn’t believe her.
Her brothers and sisters then begin to sing the song of the frog… .she then understands that all the frogs were once tadpoles.
At the end of the novel, a score and the lyrics to sing in rhythm the song of the frogs!
The pastel colored illustrations are simple with always a humorous touch
Auteur: Jeanne Willis et Tony Ross
Publisher: Gallimard Youth
Number of pages : 25
Age range : 7-9 years
Editor’s Note: 10
Editor’s opinion: A theme that often comes up in the mouths of children who wonder what they were like when they were little. A little novel which shows that everyone is not the same and that it is important to know your origins.