Morphing Murphy by Robert Favretto
Illus. by Tull Suwannakit. Ford St Publishing, 2019. ISBN:
9781925804324. 32pp.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Murphy the tadpole loves life in his
weedy pond. He swims around and around all day long. But one day he
notices two tiny bumps near his tail. He is concerned and tries to
shake them off, but they grow into legs. His new legs give him extra
speed and maneuverability, but then, two more bumps sprout near his
gills. These become front legs which allow him to steer and get
food. All is good, and life goes back to normal again, but then, his
tail disappears. He is aghast and tries hard to find it, but notices
that without a tail he can jump out of the water and breathe the
air.
The metamorphosis of the tadpole to a frog is complete, and readers
will not only have an endearing story of Murphy and his concern
about change, they will learn the stages a tadpole goes through to
become a frog, finding out all the benefits that accrue, and see
that change is a good thing, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming
the new.
The patterning of the words make it an excellent read aloud, with
children quickly picking up the repeated refrains and calling them
out with the reader.
The repetition of 'life is good, I won't change a thing' is followed
by 'But the', alerting readers to another change in Murphy's body.
They will turn the pages with eager anticipation seeing how Murphy's
body is transforming. And of course, the wonderful twist at the end
of the tale will have readers laughing out loud, recalling lots of
stories about frogs and the myths about them.
Suwannakit's wonderful water colour illustrations recall the green
weedy pond, with other small animals hiding in the watery plants in
Murphy's world. I love the pages after a new appendage has developed
showing Murphy scrambling all over the pages trying to shake off the
new growth. The pages are full of movement as the text follows the
little tadpole, highlighting for the reader the dismay Murphy is
feeling at change.
Suwannakit is a Melbourne based illustrator known for his Sad,
the dog and Thimble.
Favretto lives near Melbourne and has several funny vampire books
for middle primary people published.
And new words will be introduced focussing on the word, 'morphing'
used in the title, encouraging readers to thinks about what it means
and where it comes from. Teacher's
notes are available.
Themes: Frogs, Tadpoles, Change, Metamorphosis.
Fran Knight