Night of the Spadefoot Toads, Bill Harley
Night of the Spadefoot Toads, Bill Harley
List: $14.95 | Sale: $10.47
Club: $7.47

Night of the Spadefoot Toads

Author: Bill Harley

Narrator: Alex Boyles

Unabridged: 4 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/02/2022


Synopsis

When his father takes a new job in Massachusetts, Ben Moroney must leave behind his best friend Tony, a western banded gecko named Lenny, and worst of all, the Arizona desert home he has loved and explored.Ben’s adjustment to his new environment is not going well until he unexpectedly finds a kindred spirit in his eccentric fifth-grade science teacher, Mrs. Tibbets. She introduces him to the rare and elusive Eastern spadefoot toads that make their home on her rural property. When Ben discovers that Mrs. Tibbets’s land may be sold to developers, he knows he has to do something.As Ben’s obsession with saving the spadefoot toads’ habitat grows, his schoolwork and his relationships with his family and new friends suffer. But just when it seems things can’t get any worse, Ben finds a way to meet his responsibilities to the people around him and demonstrates the importance of even the smallest efforts to save the earth’s rapidly disappearing habitats.A beloved exploration of important environmental themes, this appealing middle grade novel comes from renowned storyteller and two-time Grammy Award winner Bill Harley.

About Bill Harley

Bill Harley is a two-time Grammy Award–winning storyteller, musician, and writer who has been writing and performing for kids and families for more than twenty-five years. He is the recipient of Parents’ Choice and ALA awards. He won a 2007 Grammy Award for his children’s storytelling album Blah Blah Blah and a 2009 Grammy Award for his children’s spoken-word album Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live. He lives in Massachusetts.

About Alex Boyles

Alex Boyles has been acting pretty much his entire life. He got his BA in theater–acting/directing performance from CSU Long Beach and his MFA in acting performance from Ohio State University. He started narrating audiobooks in 2019 and hasn’t looked back!


Reviews

Goodreads review by Danielle on September 01, 2021

Note: this is my 10 year old daughters review. “It was about frogs and stuff and it was cool and I liked it. Mostly everyone was funny or nice, except one kid who was a bully (that Frankie dude). People don’t know that it’s a cool book. I wish there were more descriptions on how they looked like. And......more

Goodreads review by Mollie on April 03, 2025

Read this before and loved it!......more

Goodreads review by Patricia Kemp on September 10, 2012

Ben is having a hard time adjusting to the move from Tucson, Arizona to Edenboro, Massachusetts. He misses his best friend and the pet lizard he left with his friend. On top of that some of his treasured things he had carefully packed away for transport did not make it to his new home. Yep, it was l......more

Goodreads review by Sandy on July 23, 2017

Great story about so many good topics for young readers -- fitting in as a new kid, relating to adults, dealing with change (feeling homesick after a move), kindness, honesty, integrity... but also a great science story about endangered spadefoot toads. All kinds of great conflict. I loved the scien......more

Goodreads review by Zosia on November 06, 2015

I thought this book was really cool and I loved the part at the end when Mrs Tibbets said "Omigosh" to Ben after she saw the rattle snake and was surprised that they survived by not being in they're new habitat. Awesome!......more


Quotes

“Harley’s appealing story shows readers that adults and children can connect in meaningful friendships, and reminds them that conservation can begin in their own backyards.” Kirkus Reviews

“The main character is a well-developed, realistic ‘child hero.’” School Library Journal