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Toby the Perons Tree Frog By Helen Allen

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Just how did I go from Tobes the Tadpole to Toby the frog? Tobes Toby

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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.

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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

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

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Can you see us growing in the eggs?

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In a few days I have a tail.

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We wriggle around in the egg sack. Yippee, this is the way we learn to swim, tumbling, tumbling, over and over.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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Then my arms start to grow inside. First they are just a bulge then eventually they pop out, with an elbow first.

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Some more weeks go by and I need to learn how to swim with legs as my tail starts to disappear.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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The End

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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