Toad Weather

It isn’t just the young heroine of Markle’s story who isn’t thrilled about an excursion into the rain—her grandmother is just as grumpy about the idea when the girl’s mother suggests it (“I vote we turn around and go home,” says Grandma). But their perseverance is rewarded when they discover why the girl’s mother dragged them outdoors: a mass migration of toads crossing a blocked-off street to lay eggs in nearby water. Helping the toads with their journey proves a bonding activity, and Gonzalez’s pastel, pencil, and airbrush illustrations movingly highlight the softening attitudes of the girl and her grandmother as they get swept up in one of nature’s small, unexpected miracles. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)