Title: Toad’s Tools
Author: Adrian M. Hurtado
Illustrator: Jayne Koontz
Publisher: GoTo Publish, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-64749-642-5
Pages: 42
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Hollywood Book Reviews
Toad is the main character of this charming children’s story by author Adrian M. Hurtado along with the artistry of Jayne Koontz providing beautifully detailed images enabling readers to visualize this fanciful world.
As a personified creature, Toad awakes one day and after breakfast, puts on his tool-belt which had belonged to his deceased dad. His toolbelt includes a screwdriver, an axe, and a saw. He embarks on his day to help fellow forest creatures, such as Bonny the bunny, Furry the Squirrel, and Mrs. Blue Jay. After providing “handyman fixes” to each of their little projects, they feed Toad with a delicacy as a thank you for his service. The kindness of the animals are genuine and respectable, and Toad is very generous in his willingness to help his fellow forest inhabitants.
Aside from the gentle kindness to others, the theme of this story revolves around respecting the memory of Toad’s dad. Each of the tools had belonged to his dad, and at the end of the day Toad views a portrait of his dad, having an uncanny resemblance, showing his deep love for his father. As for the illustrations, a graphic technique of using a background texture of a canvas enables each picture to look as if it was painted with care and clarity, each being worthy of framing. I got a kick out of the background detail of Toad’s kitchen where the artist labeled a box of food “French Flies.”
Toad’s Tools covers the elements which make a children’s story impactful. It has a worthy protagonist, a forest which comes to life with many other types of animals each helping one another, and it shows the continuation of a parent’s contribution to that society by its offspring. Again, the respect for the generation which has passed is threaded throughout, and even in the dedication of this book.
Toad’s Tools would make a wonderful addition to a family library with the youngest of toddlers, eager to learn about the world around them and the personalities of many of the creatures inhabiting the forest. It is a soft and gentle way to send children off to dreamland, where they might see themselves as the hero-character of their own imaginary world. All in all, it is a wonderful story with exceptional artist imagery.