Overview

Amphibian siblings Warton and Morton face an adventure together that requires trust, patience, and their strong family bond as they help a family of weasels learn cooperation. The third in the 50th anniversary reissue of this classic chapter book series for 6-8 year-olds that was hailed by Booklist in its starred review as ""a small scale Wind in the Willows"" and that the New York Times called ""a parable of friendship."" One hot summer's day, the toads are doing everything they can to cool off. While sipping sweet huckleberryade, Morton tells his brother about his dreams of flying like a hawk through the air. Warton, wanting to surprise his brother, builds a contraption out of a washtub and tubes of dried snakeskin that will allow them to float in the sky, carried by the wind. But when the wind gets too rough, the toads are launched through the woods, far down the river from their home. Before they can start the dangerous journey home, they're captured by a family of weasels. Instead of eating them, the weasels offer a deal. If the toad can build the weasels' new home, then they will be free to leave. But there's just one issue: the weasels have no idea how to work together as siblings, and their fighting is getting in the way of Warton and Morton's tasks. This charming transitional chapter book emphasizes the need for cooperation, communication, teamwork, and strong sibling relationships.

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9781681156903

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Reviews

""Brother Morton's wistful musing about floating high like the hawks is all it takes to set Warton Toad busy constructing a sort of air balloon from snakeskin tubes with a washbucket carriage. And after the inevitable accident sets them adrift, the two crash-land far from home and end up prisoners of a band of slovenly, squabbling weasels who want Warton to help them build a house. As the alternative is toad stew for the weasels, Warton tries, but he can't get his contentious captors to work together. And though he has a bit more success teaching them to play games together, it's a villain ex machina--in the form of a hawk who swoops down and matches up Freda Weasel--that allows Warton to play the hero and wins the two toads a reluctant escort home. Falling somewhere between the cozy attractions of A Toad for Tuesday and the sticky spirit of Warton's Christmas Eve Adventure, this relies on the disagreeable behavior of the nasty weasels to give the story a sort of mild shiver value."" -Kirkus Reviews September 1, 1978

Author Information

Russell E. Erickson is the author of seven Warton and Morton books, originally published from 1974-1988. He was a lithographer whose other interests include photography, printing, carpentry, fishing, and puttering around in his vegetable patch and woodland garden. He lived in Bristol, Connecticut until his death in 2024. Lawrence Di Fiori is the distinguished illustrator of all seven of the Warton and Morton books, more than 70 other books and countless magazine pieces.  A Fine Arts graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art, his extensive works include painting, sculpture, comics, fine ink drawings, and exhibits in numerous museums. As a mentor and a scholar, he taught in art school and followed his curiosity toward beauty and aesthetics throughout his life. He died in 2022.

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