Thomas is an aquarium toad of unknown parentage. He doesn't know his past and the prospects for his future are dim. While he's read extensively about faraway lands, Thomas has never ventured beyond the glass walls of home. But when happenstance leaves a door open into a brave new world, Thomas hopes he'll finally discover where he belongs.
As the story unfolds, this humble but educated toad finds himself in the middle of a civil feud between rival frog clans and a lost kingdom yet to be restored. Thomas wrestles with the tension of being a toad of two worlds, and learns that pride can overtake anyone, and that even victory can defeat the victor.
Frog of Arcadia is an enchanting moral epic filled with cowardice and chivalry, pride and majesty, boorishness and heroism. But a divine order holds it all together and, at last, we all reap what we sow.
Thomas is an aquarium toad of unknown parentage. He doesn't know his past and the prospects for his future are dim. While he's read extensively about faraway lands, Thomas has never ventured beyond the glass walls of home. But when happenstance leaves a door open into a brave new world, Thomas hopes he'll finally discover where he belongs.
As the story unfolds, this humble but educated toad finds himself in the middle of a civil feud between rival frog clans and a lost kingdom yet to be restored. Thomas wrestles with the tension of being a toad of two worlds, and learns that pride can overtake anyone, and that even victory can defeat the victor.
Frog of Arcadia is an enchanting moral epic filled with cowardice and chivalry, pride and majesty, boorishness and heroism. But a divine order holds it all together and, at last, we all reap what we sow.
A lonesome brown toad looked out longingly at an overcast morning sky, its gloom saturated by the green tint of algae on his glass walls. Casually glancing at the bare rock where freeze-dried crickets usually lay waiting, Thomas tilted back his yellow leaf hat and spoke to a nearby clay pot.
“It’s as if the day is mocking us. The weather is as gloomy as our home.”
As if becoming animate, a voice from inside the pot responded, “That’s all well and good.” Then out emerged another brown toad, a rather portly fellow. “But I’d rather be here than hibernating in some mud pit, scavenging for food.”
“That’s very respectable of you, Mr. Hubert" jested Thomas, as he chuckled to himself. "Its clear that you consider yourself to be a gentleman.”
Mr. Hubert huffed back indignantly. He had been purchased from a certain Hubert’s Pet Store in the city, which is where he earned his name. Whereas Thomas, well, Thomas wasn’t really sure where he came from.
Ennobled by his pedigree, Mr. Hubert never found it proper to discuss Thomas’ questionable parentage. In fact, this topical avoidance naturally led to a lifestyle of general silence, which suited Mr. Hubert’s insistent napping schedule just fine.
Being left to his own devices, Thomas read as aggressively as Mr. Hubert napped, a habit that was facilitated by his terrarium's perched view of open books. You could say that Thomas had been well educated over the years (that is, for a toad) with an eclectic yet routine consumption of poetry and encyclopedia entries. And all of this had fueled in him an incurable case of wanderlust, an itch that simply could not be scratched in his present circumstance.
Thomas sighed.
“Nothing left to be desired at all then?” he poked.
“Just breakfast. I’m cold-blooded, kid,” replied his dreary companion, moving only to adjust his black bowler cap.
"Mr. Hubert!” Thomas replied teasingly, finding respite from the monotony. “Such musings do not usually precede your morning refreshments.”
Then, almost as if it were responsive to the growling of Mr. Hubert’s stomach, the black grill ceiling of the terrarium was lifted, and several helpings of freeze-dried crickets were dropped on the rocks.
Mr. Hubert stirred.
But upon this particular delivery, something extraordinary happened—or, rather, didn’t happen.
The black grill ceiling of Thomas and Mr. Hubert’s enclosure did not close. In fact, it was left completely open. And so was the window by their confinement!
Thomas paused, appreciating the serendipity of the moment.
For so long, this terrarium toad had yearned to experience the wide world outside his artificial habitat.
And now his time had come.
Climbing out of his glass enclosure, Thomas hopped to the sill. He gazed out the open window with fresh eyes, taking in the sights and sounds of the nearby bog. He keenly watched as lively young turtles surfaced and made their way to muddy banks in search of the morning sun.
Interrupting this amusement was the distant sound of an automobile approaching. Thomas' attention turned to the road which ran beyond the bog, anticipating this new sight. By the changing pitch he could perceive that it was indeed approaching fast, when suddenly the lone vehicle whooshed by at an impressive speed.
Thomas’s gaze traced the automobile’s pathway until it was no longer visible. Then his sights turned back to the present landscape before him.
Beyond that highway of men, a sea of long grass and wildflowers met the horizon, where the sun was just now peaking out from behind the clouds. These utopian meadows beckoned to his most basic toad sensibilities.
The best books are those filled with a love of storytelling and narrated with unflinching character. Frog of Arcadia is one such book, a sweetly surreal fairy tale about a kingdom of amphibians. I’d class it as low fantasy, but the anthropomorphised animals blur the lines between the real and fantastical, so you could easily see it as a “normal” adventure.
The story follows Thomas the toad, who escapes his cosy terrarium and home to venture over the highway and into the previously unknown kingdom of Arcadia. The prince of this realm is trying to rebuild it after ages of hardship. Coincidentally, Thomas and his twist-filled journey, dotted with various colourful characters, become instrumental in this quest.
As far as the protagonist is concerned, his innocent and secretly ambitious personality makes the journey very interesting. Even though his evolution could have been developed more, the whole story is entertaining enough that it doesn’t matter as much.
Something that makes the narrative that much more intriguing is its Arthurian core, as well as how the story upturns some of its tropes to fit the amphibian context.
In addition to plenty of laughs, you can look forward to a great example of grand delivery done well. Most writers avoid this level of formality because it can easily make a story tiresome. In this case, it works really well, not just because it suits the overall medieval atmosphere, but because the author clearly has the skill and passion for fun writing to pull it off.
While short and simple, Frog of Arcadia is a refreshing read with wonderful style and flow, not to mention some lovely illustrations. Its events, familiar features, and surrealism will give your day humour and meaningful life lessons. Furthermore, if you’re looking for a good story for your kids that includes animals and stimulating adventure, this could be a perfect fit.