Toby the Peron’s Tree Frog

By Helen Allen

Just how did I go from Tobes the Tadpole to Toby

the frog?

Tobes Toby

In the beginning Father frog calls at the side of the

pond; “cra, cra, ah, ah, ah, ahhk” (very fast, like a

machine gun).

He is searching for a Mother frog.

Soon Mother frog and Father frog get together.

Mother frog lays a lot of eggs in the water, including one

that becomes me.

This is me in the egg

Father frog makes a foam so that the eggs float on the

water.

Can you see us growing in the eggs?

In a few days I have a tail.

We wriggle around in the egg sack. Yippee, this is the

way we learn to swim, tumbling, tumbling, over and

over.

Gradually, I grow into a tiny tadpole. I have eyes, a

mouth and a tail.

Then I hatch out of my egg and I can swim in the big

pool. I have some yummy yolk left to eat. I am still rather

fragile.

In another seven days I am able to swim with friends

and we eat algae.

I am covered with skin, not like fish that have scales. My

teeth are coming through; even though they are very tiny

they can grate food and make it easy to digest.

It is great now I have made new friends and we swim

around together in a school, just like girls and boys go to

school. We do have a lot of fun in the pool swimming and

learning new things.

But just how did I get to be a frog from such a little

tadpole?

In six weeks with lots to eat, I have grown little hind legs.

My body is getting longer and my head is easy to see

now. Food is more interesting, a mixture of insects and

plants.

Then my arms start to grow inside. First they are just

a bulge then eventually they pop out, with an elbow

first.

Some more weeks go by and I need to learn how to

swim with legs as my tail starts to disappear.

By twelve weeks I have changed even more. My tail is a

stub and I think I am starting to look like a teeny version

of Mum and Dad. I am no longer a tadpole, now I am a

froglet.

It is time to move from the water and explore ErinEarth.

Little frogs like to hide in the grass around a pond; it is

hard to see them sometimes. But when the weather is

nice and the air moist, they sing a great chorus of song

“cra, ah, ah, cra, ahhk”.

Now after all the changes I am a frog, and such a fine

looking character.

In the next few weeks I must find a girl frog and raise

some new frogs, and the cycle will start all over

again.

When you visit ErinEarth, see if you can find me.

The End

An ErinEarth

Adventure

© 2013 Helen Allen and the Trustees of the Presentation Sisters Text: Helen Allen Photographs: ErinEarth Volunteers Background: Sophie Cooper

This book is for Kindergarten to Year 2.

ErinEarth 1 Kildare Street Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650 Australia

Ph: (02) 6925 7150 email: erinearthwagga@ozemail.com.au